Just a Journey
by beautiful-isabelle-fuhrman
Summary: AU: Clove and her friends are just kids in high school. They just need to learn how life isn't always perfect.They just need to learn people aren't nice. And that love is not always easy. First fan i have posted. Suggestions? Leave a comment. I would love to see what you have to say
1. Chapter 1

Clove POV:

My phone vibrates on my bedside table making me awake from my dreamless slumber. I stretch my hand out and grab the damned device. It took all my strength not to throw the damned device against the wall. A text message flashed across the bright lit screen.

_Weekend at the beach house? ~Finn_

A faint smile crosses my face. I loved hanging with Finnick and my friends. Besides, the beach house trips were always fun. Finnick always calls it a 'house', but it is more of a mansion.

_See you there Finn,_I reply quickly.

Suddenly I feel awake. I hop out of my bed and run down the small flight of wooden stairs down to the bathroom only to be stopped by my mother looking at me in surprise.

"What are you doing up so early?" she questions. I usually wake up around eleven in the summer. I look over to the clock and see that it's eight on a Friday morning in the middle of summer. No wonder she is questioning me.

I put on my puppy dog eyes and my cutest smile before I ask her. "Please can I go to the beach house for the weekend?" I beg, stretching out the 'please' for as long as I could.

My mom there stands there She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. My mom sighs, "Yes."

I hug her tightly, squealing in excitement then run away to the bathroom screaming "I love you!" at the top of my lungs.

I push open the bathroom door and grab two of my bikinis that were hanging in the shower. I reach over to the sink and grab all the shit I need for the weekend and throw them in the beach bag I picked up outside the bathroom door. I run back upstairs and shove my cute clothes and sunglasses in the almost full bag.

"Bye mom! See you Monday!" I shout as I walk through the door. It slams shut behind me and I half run half walk to my old, teal blue pickup. The teal paint was slowly chipping away and the truck has started to rust. The bottom of the car with splattered with mud. What's the point in washing it if it just gets dirty anyway?

I pull out my phone to text Finnick before I drive off to his house.

_On my way :)_

I slide on my sunglasses and start the ignition. The old truck rumbles to life and slowly backs out of the driveway. The house fades out of view

I roll my windows down and blast my favorite song, Sunday Morning by Maroon 5, on repeat so the silent neighborhood could fill with the sweet sound of music. I could see some annoyed neighbors who are walking their dogs.

I turn down the radio and belt out the chorus "That may be all I need." I can see that I am attracting some stares from people standing outside their homes. I give them a little wave and continue, "In darkness, she is all I see."

I blast my music where ever I drive all the way to the beach house, which is about one hour away.

I stop at a red light and sit back in my seat. I am almost at Finnick's, but I just need to stop in town for breakfast. A red convertible pulls beside me and honks. I stare over and he yells to me, "It's not Sunday!" He speeds off a second afterward right as the light turns green.

_What a douche bag!_ I think to myself as I pull into the small diner that I always go to when I'm here.

Cato POV:

I start driving up to the beach house. I pull of the freeway in my convertible and pull up to a red light. The person in the pickup next to me is blasting their music loudly. I quickly recognize the song and honk. A girl turns to me and I shout over "It's not Sunday!" before quickly driving away. I'm not going to see her again, so what's the harm?

I never got a real look at her. I think she's a brunette, but I'm not sure.

I pull up the road the beach house and park my convertible. I check my phone and see a message from Devon. _Door is locked, but there is a key under the mat. Lock the door again after you get in. Finnick is out getting food. See you tonight._

The door opens and I walk into their large beach house. I put the key on the table and relock the door. I change into my swim shorts and lay on the couch. I take off my shirt and throw it in the corner of the room.

The beach is calm. Almost no one is out there. In a few hours, it will be packed with people. _And lots of hot chicks._I think to myself and smile. _This is going to be fun._

Clove POV:

I park my truck and walk in the familiar setting of the little diner named Munchers. I prop myself up on one of their bar stools and shout, "Hey Sal." A tall, beautiful blonde woman in her early thirties runs up to me wearing her apron.

A smile beams across her tired and worn face. "Clove," she says with excitement, enveloping me in a hug. "The usual?" she asks.

"Yes please," I reply, "extra strawberries." Sal gives me a warm smile and runs back in the kitchen and prepares my food.

I grab yesterday's newspaper and read through the comics. I have read them already, but I still laugh.

Sal walks back from the kitchen carrying my plate of steaming hot buttermilk pancakes covered with maple syrup, a powdered sugar, whipped cream, and a shit load strawberries. "Thank you," I manage to say between shovels of pancake.

"Anytime." Sal walks away and goes to serve another customer.

I shove a few forkfuls of pancake into my mouth when my cell phone rings. "What," I answer. I doubt the other person knew what I said because of all the food in my mouth. I swallow.

"Where are you? We expected you an hour ago!" Finnick's voice was full of concern. "Everyone is already here." I heard Katniss yell 'slow poke' in the background of the call.

I stare down at my stomach and my plate then reply, "I was really hungry." Sal gives out a small laugh and mouths 'just a little' to me and winks. "I will be there in fifteen minutes," I say shoving what's left of the pancake stack in my mouth. I hang up my phone and pull out a ten from my wallet.

"Bye Sal! See you later," I shout as I walk out the door to my pickup, one of three cars in the lot. I pull out of the lot and drive off through the town. I turn off my music and turn down the thin, rocky, and twisted road that led to the beach 'house' that I was so familiar of.

The thin path grows into a large courtyard where I park my truck in the line of expensive cars.

I usually walk right through the door into the house, but this time I find it locked. I ring the doorbell and lean against the doorframe.

I stand there for a few minutes at the door before I finally hear noise behind the door. The door opens and I see a shirtless guy about a half a foot taller than me wearing swim shorts. He opens his mouth to say something, but I squeezed past him and ran down the hallway.

I stop in the living room and see that there is no sign of my friends anywhere.

The shirtless guy came up behind me and said, "They are walking down to the store to get food." I turned around and he smiled. The guy stretched leant backward, flexing his muscles. I pass him again and walk halfway up the staircase and stop. I look back and call down to him, "If you are trying to hit on me, it's not working."

Cato POV:

What could I say, the girl was beautiful. Her dark brown hair fell perfectly down her back. When I opened the door, I wanted to kiss her, but she ran off.

I walk to the kitchen and wait for the girl to come back down. I have never met her, but Finnick's brother Devon keeps telling me about her. I can't remember her name though; I think it started with a 'C'.

The door slams upstairs and I hear the sound of little footsteps running down the stairs. She shows up at the bottom wearing a pink striped bikini. It wasn't a bright fluorescent pink that most girls would choose. This pink was the pink of a sunset. I was speechless. I need to get to know that girl.

Clove POV:

I start to make my way across the living room towards the deck when I hear a whistle coming from the kitchen. I glare over to see the shirtless guy leaning over the counter smiling at me. "I will fucking hurt you," I threaten and continue out to the deck.

The boy follows me and says, "Well you aren't as innocent as I have heard." How the hell did he know me? I am sure I haven't met him before.

I need to get away from him. I hop over the blue fence railing and fall ten feet to the ground below, landing perfectly. The warm sand covers my bare feet as I walk down to the water's edge.

"That's a bit dangerous, you know," he laughs. This is getting creepy, he won't stop following me.

I pull out my phone and call Finnick. It rings twice before he picks up. "Hello?" I hear a shout from his end saying 'put it on speaker!' Finnick says, "You're on speaker."

"There is a shirtless guy following me," I complain as I turn back to look at my stalker who smirks and gives a smack wave. I could hear the girls with Finnick screaming. The screams slowly fade out and Finnick sighs, "Be right there." I hang up my phone and continue walking down the beach.

"You left out the part where you said I was hot."

My emotions bubbled up inside me like a volcano, waiting to erupt.

"Oh and how charming I was."

The lava flowed higher to the surface.

"Hey," he shouts, "wait up." The boy places his firm hand on my shoulder. I smack his hand away.

I erupt in a fiery furry. "Don't touch me," I yell, "See, I don't even know you. You have followed me for at least a mile. I can call the cops and get you arrested." I storm away from the dumbfounded boy. Who did he think he was anyway?

I hear faint high pitched screams start to fade into my hearing that grow louder with each second. I look down the beach to see Madge, Katniss, and Annie sprinting towards me with Finnick far behind carrying ten bags of groceries. The girls run past me to jump at the shirtless guy who is following me. He can't seem to move the girls away to follow me, so he stands there, letting my friends prod his muscles and try to flirt with him.

I sprint down the beach to Finnick. "What the hell is going on?" he asks me. He was so confused about the whole thing. "I got to your house and the door was locked," I began, "so I rang the doorbell and this shirtless asshole opened the door. When I was inside, he told me you were at the store. So, I changed into my bikini and he whistled at me. Then, he had the nerve to follow me here. And he said he knew me. I don't even recognize him Finnick!" I tear up and bury my head in his shoulder.

"What a douche," he comments. Finnick hugs me and pats my back. He comforts me for a few minutes and lets me cry in his shoulder. I pull away from his comforting grip and take half of the grocery bags from him. We walk back in silence.

The girls are still flirting with the shirtless bastard when we get back.

"Finnick!" the bastard exclaims with a smile on his face.

"What do you want? My brother isn't here, so why are you?" Finnick almost screams in his face out of rage.

Finnick and I are really good friends; we are almost inseparable sometimes. Finn is really protective of me. If anyone is out of line, he will beat the shit out of them. We liked each other for a short amount of time, but we decided friends are better.

"Your brother is having a party here later and he said I could come early," he explains. The boy looks over to me and winks. "Glad I did."

Gahh! What the hell! I can't stand to see the sight of that boy. I drop the groceries and sprint away to the house. I hear my friend try to come after me, but they don't make it far because it's more than a mile to the house and they become exhausted quickly. I don't care how tired I am or how much my legs hurt; all I need to do is run away.

Cato POV:

Finnick reaches over and punches me in the face, knocking me to the sand. "What the fuck Cato? You're such an ass hole!" Finnick screams. The group of girls try to run after the other who sprinted off, but they stop because she is already so far away. Finnick picks up the bags she dropped when she left and swiftly walks away.

I pick myself and run after him. "I was trying to be nice to her by-" I start but am quickly interrupted by Finnick.

"By what Cato? By whistling at her and then stalking her for more than a mile? Yea, that's creepy, not nice." Finnick's words hit me like a brick. "Get out of her fucking business," he yells before he runs to catch up with the girls. I walk not far behind him the rest of the way back.

We get back to the house and I sit down in the living room with Finnick while the girls search for the brunette.

"Cato," Finnick growled, "Stay away from Clove at the party." Clove, her name was Clove. I finally knew the mystery girl's name. "That is not a suggestion Cato." Finnick got angrier. "Don't even acknowledge her. Got it?" By the end of the sentence, he was shouting in my face.

"Got it," I mumble leaning back into the couch. Well, there goes my plan. I was going to try to make myself look like less of a douche and make her not hate me. _Well, there are other girls to hit on at the party,_I think, _but I won't be able to stop thinking of Clove._

"Um Finnick?" a tall blonde says. She sounds kind of worried. "We kind of need you."

"What is it Madge?" Finnick says jumping over the couch to run over to her. I laughed at his franticness. He stared daggers at me before Madge responded.

"Clove won't come out of the room," she replied.

Finnick sighed and walked up the marble staircase to the others.

Clove POV:

I lay sprawled across the bed. My friends are outside shouting at me through the door for me to come out. No type of coaxing will get me to come out of this room right now. There frantic yells finally went silent. I didn't hear them walk down the stairs. The house was completely silent. I sat straight up.

Where could they have possibly gone? I didn't hear footsteps or a door shut.

I walk cautiously towards the door before stepping out. That was a bad idea, of course, because Finnick tackled me to the ground before I could react to him lunging at me.


	2. Chapter 2

**About the POV changes on the other chapter, I put in lines, but they didn't show up, so I tried to make the POV obvious. Sorry my chapters are short; I am a really slow writer :P**

Clove POV:

I struggle to move under Finnick's weight. He has tackled then pinned me to the ground right outside the bedroom I was hiding in just a few seconds ago. I scream bloody murder and thrash my arms and legs everywhere I can move them.

"Shit, calm down," Finn complains.

His words give me no idea of doing so. I continue to resist his grip and reach over to try to bite him.

"Don't you dare bite me Clove Aubrey Morrison." Finnick sounded a lot like my father when he said my full name. I sighed and laid back in defeat. Finn climbs off me and helps me up. "One hour until people arrive," he states before walking down the stairs. I guess I can stay up in the room the rest of the night. Finnick yells from the bottom of the staircase, "Be social!" Well fuck there goes my plan for the night.

Cato POV:

Everyone starts to slowly arrive and fill the whole house. I stand up from the couch and push through the mobs of people to the kitchen.

I finally make it there and grab a beer from the fridge. I open it and make my way to the couple making out in the corner. I snap my fingers in front of their faces and take another sip of beer. Marvel turns to me and acknowledges me with a small head nod. He turns back to the stranger he was just making out with and kisses her quickly. "Call me," he whispered as he followed me outside.

"What's up dude?" he asks.

I start to tell Marvel the story, "There is this really beautiful girl and-"

"Wait a minute," he laughs as he interrupts me, "you called a girl beautiful? What has gotten into you?"

"Yes I did," I tell him, "Now listen; she hates me because I came on to strong."

"Woah," Marvel interrupts again, "Completely not your type."

"Listen to me," I bark, "I need to get her to like me again."

"Who is this girl anyway?" he asks. Marvel always asks too many questions. I scan the beach to find her walking onto the volleyball court with her friends.

I grab Marvel's head and turn it towards Clove without looking away from her. "That's her," I breathed.

Marvel's mouth was left agape for a minute and proceeds to holler, "Damn." I guess other guys had the same impression because some of them were calling over to her and exclaimed things like 'Damn' or 'Hey sexy' or 'smokin babe.' This bothered me because she didn't seem to be bothered by this like she was when I whistled.

Clove POV:

"Come on let's do it!" Annie shouted. There is no way in hell I am getting out on that court and playing volleyball.

"It will be fun," Katniss exclaimed.

Tired of their constant begging, I gave into them, "Ugh fine one game." Katniss, Annie, and Madge squealed in my ear and ran onto the court. I slipped off my dress and threw it to the side. I heard a few whistles come my way. _Ignore them Clove, _I thought, _it's not worth it. _

I strode onto the court and took my place in the front of the court. I try my hardest to avoid hearing the rude comments from the boys on the side lines, but I can't block them out. Annie serves the volleyball and the game starts. The ball comes straight to me and I spike over the net and watch as it hits the sand, scoring the first point of the game. Some cheers escape the crowd as we reset.

Throughout the rest of the game, I can feel the guys in the crowd eyeing me up and I wanted to punch every one of them in the face. Annie hits the ball perfectly over the net, with the skinny blonde barely missing it when she dives onto the sand.

The whole crowd erupts into cheers and hollers. I turn around to hug Katniss when a large group of teenage boys my age grab me and hold me over their head as they walk to the water. "Let me go," I demand as they walk through the ocean water with me lying hopelessly over their heads. The boys pause when they are waist deep and bring me down without letting me touch the water. All of them grab part of my arm or leg and swing me into the ocean.

My body breaks through the icy cold ocean water and I plunge down into its depths. I frantically pull myself to the surface and gasp for air. Every part in my body has started to lose its feeling.

Far away on the beach, I hear everyone laughing at me. All the boys are standing their laughing and pointing at me. Some even imitate me by shouting "let me go!' in a voice that obviously doesn't sound anything like me. I see a male figure running towards me and I am just hoping it's Finnick. Then I realize, as he comes closer, that it isn't even close to Finn. This boy is way shorter than Finn and his hair is a light blonde instead of a blondish ginger color.

"Need a hand," he asks with a warm smile. I reach over and accept his offer. The boy lifts me onto his back. "I'm Peeta," he clarifies, "You must me Clove."

"And you must be correct," I laugh.

"Fuck this water is cold!" he curses, "And I'm not even halfway in yet." Peeta gestures to me and I giggle.

"Well, you volunteered," I counter.

"Yes, and I am sorry I came into help you," he admits sarcastically.

"Touché," I reply to him.

Peeta looks back at me and smiles. "No one says that," he mentions laughing.

"Well, I am no one," I joke.

"I thought you were Clove," he states as seriously as he can before erupting into laughter.

We get back to the beach and he runs off to grab me a towel. Annie, Katniss, and Madge swarm around me and yell at me.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Can I get you anything?"

"Do you like that guy who went out in the water to help you?"

Peeta comes back outside and tosses me a large towel. I wrap myself in the warm towel and start to regain feeling in my body. "Let's get you inside," Peeta says as we walk towards the house wrapped in our towels.

Cato POV:

I am filled with anger when I see the group of guys carrying Clove and throwing her in the sea. This angers me because I can't do anything about it.

I look to Finnick, hoping that this situation doesn't apply to the "Don't acknowledge her or talk to her" rule. Finnick crosses his arms and shakes his head at me. I flip him off and look back at Clove to see her being carried to shore by no one other than Peeta.

I want to punch him and take Clove away, but I knew it was useless; she hates me and will never change her mind about me. I wish there was just a way to go back in time and fix my mistakes.

It hurts me to see the two of them laughing together. Clove smiles the whole way to shore while laughing and talking to Peeta. Her smile is so big and it could light up a room. Why couldn't she ever smile at me like that?

They arrive back at the beach and Peeta jogs inside. I need to talk to him. I follow him through the house to the bathroom. Peeta turns around with two towels in his hands. He throws them up in the air and screams in surprise, "Holy shit!" Peeta leans to pick them up and throws them over his shoulder. "What's your problem man?"

"What were you two talking about?" I ask upfront.

Peeta is taken back by my question, but answers me willingly. "We really didn't talk about anything." He sighs and looks up at me. "She isn't one of those girls stupid enough to fall for you Cato." He shoves past me and walks out the back door.

Peeta was right about her not falling. She is too smart for that. I can't help but feel different around her, though. Clove is someone I don't want to use; I want to keep her safe.

Clove POV:

Peeta sits me on the couch and hands me a coffee. I stare at the steam rising from the white mug as I sip the dark, bitter liquid. The coffee burns my tongue and slips down my throat.

"Why are you doing this?" I ask him without looking up from my coffee. Peeta sits there silent and I could almost feel the confusion radiating off of him. "Why are you being so nice?" I rephrase and some of the confusion disappears.

"Clove, I'm trying to be your friend."

"Or do you want something more, but I don't want that." Silence falls between us. "All guys just lie to you and end up breaking your heart anyway so what's the point." A tear falls down my face into my coffee.

_I look up at his tall figure. His gray eyes sparking in the fading light, he smiles and looks down at me. His short brown hair swayed in the slight breeze. He moves into me closer and closer before pressing his lips against mine. His lips sent electricity racing through my bones. He slowly pulls away and whispers. "I will always love you and only you."_

_I walk up to the door and twist the knob. "Hey, your dad let me in Em," I announced as I opened my best friend's door that led into her bedroom. "Thought I would stop by early." I looked over at her bed and froze. Emily was tangled in a mess of her own bed sheets with the brown haired boy with sparkling gray eyes._

My single tear has suddenly turned into two rivers running down my face. Damn, I have broken down in front of a guy who I just met. I seem so weak and vulnerable.

Peeta places his left hand softly on my right shoulder. "I don't want that." I look up and he takes his left hand up and raises it up. "I, Peeta Anderson, solemnly swear that I will never be more than a friend with Clove."

"I will take you up on that offer." I laugh and wipe away the tracks my tears have made.

Peeta leans in and stares me in the eyes. "You can always talk to me." He stands up and starts walking away.

Cato POV:

I raise the bottle to my lips and take a sip. The alcohol swishes back and forth in my mouth before sliding down my throat. I raise my arm to take another sip when I see Peeta walking towards me.

"She doesn't want you," Peeta yells to me. "Or anyone in that matter."

I reach over to him and slap his back. "Sorry that you got rejected, bro."

Peeta laughs hysterically and walks away. I wonder what's so funny, but quickly forget about the conversation as I take another swig of beer.

Clove POV:

I wake up when Annie walks through my door. I slightly remember me walking back up to the room after my conversation with Peeta. Annie falls onto the bed next to me and grunts.

"What time is it?" I ask rubbing my eyes.

"Early enough to go back to bed," she complains.

I curl back up into a ball and drift off to sleep quickly.

_Emily was tangled in a mess of her own bed sheets with the brown haired boy with sparkling gray eyes. I ran out of the room in shock. I headed down the long hallway towards the door. "Clove!" the familiar voice shouts behind me. I look back at him to see him running after me and trying to put on his pants at the same time. I quicken my pace and walk out the door towards my car. I ignore his constant cries for me as I hop in and start the engine. I start to back out the driveway when he lunges at the car. The boy manages to open my passenger door and climb in._

_I have already started down the road way over the speed limit. He reaches out and touches my arm. "Clove it isn't what it looks like." I tear his filthy cheating arm off me and open my car door. I unbuckle my seatbelt and roll onto the road and watch the speeding car drive away as I hit the ground._

I wake up and lean over; Annie is fast asleep in her bed snoring her little head off. I sneak out of the room and tip-toe down the stairs. I walk to the kitchen and open the fridge. I pull out an extra large bag of bacon and rip it open. I turn on the stove and heat it up before putting the strips on to cook. The bacon sizzles and bubbles, sending wafts of bacon through the house.

I look outside and look at the sun. From what it looks like, it is about 10 AM. I pick up the first slice and shove it in my mouth eagerly and rejoice at the sight of more cooked strips. I hear a stampede of footsteps running down the staircase towards me. Everyone runs over and tries to grab at the juicy bacon, but I slap their hands.

"Go sit."

Their disappointed bodies dragged themselves to the table and dropped into the chairs obediently. I walk back to the fridge and pull out the eggs. I crack all of them into a pan and scramble them.

With my scrambled eggs starting to cook, I take off the cooked bacon and pile it onto the forming tower. I fit the rest of the bacon on the pan and turn back to the eggs. I pour some cheese that I have found in the cupboard along with some spices and mix them into the eggs. After a few minutes, I take the eggs of the stove and pour them in a bowl.

I finish off my tower of bacon and bring both dishes to the table of drooling idiots. As soon as the dishes touch the table, they jumped at them, helping themselves to generous servings of each. I grab myself a handful of bacon and a few scoops off egg and sit down next to Katniss and Annie.

Everyone eating like they have never seen food in their lives while I slowly pick at mine. Some of them thank me between mouthfuls.

"Thanks Clove."

"This is really good."

A drowsy Cato walks down the stairs and sits in an empty chair across from me. He stares at everyone's empty plates and the nearly empty food dishes. "Did you guys not save any for me?" He groans and takes the remainder of the breakfast.

Peeta stands up and takes his plate to the kitchen, placing it in the sink. "You are lucky there was food left." Everyone nods in agreement and follows Peeta's actions and brought their plates to the kitchen. "We will be outside." Peeta walks out onto the beach with everyone following behind.

I stare down at the plate of food that I have barely touched. My fork swirls through the eggs and drops to my plate. Cato's eyes are drilling into my head, so I look up. "What do you want?"

Cato leans his elbows and leans in closer like he looks intrigued. "I want to know why you hate me."

I grunted and stood up from the table in disgust. I walk to the back door and reach for the handle when he yanks me back. "Get off me you jerk!" I yell and hit him, trying to escape from his grasp. Cato sits me back at the table and holds me down.

"Please, Clove, why do you hate me?" Cato really wanted to know, but I couldn't tell him.

"I don't hate you." _Lie._

"It's obvious you are lying." Cato could see right through my lie. "You are happy around everyone else. You smile and laugh, but when you are with me, though, you always show anger and hate."

"Cato, I just met you. I don't really like people I just meet." _Lie._

"You seemed to like Peeta just fine." What is with this guy? He is like a lie detector.

The back door swings open with a Finnick standing behind it. He looked really pissed off. "God damn it Cato!" Cato loses his focus for a few seconds to look over at Finn. I push him to the floor and jump over him, but Cato wasn't giving up. He reaches over and grabs my ankle while I'm in mid-jump. I fall onto my back and hit my head on the tile.

"Shit," I mutter as I rub the back of my head. Finnick runs over to Cato and screams at him. Finnick punches him in the face and releases Cato's grip on my ankle and walks over to me.

Finnick helps me sit up and wraps his arm around me. I hit his hand away from me. "I'm fine." I try to stand up from the ground, but I fall over again.

Peeta walks through the back door. "What the hell?" He seems very confused. I would too if I saw a stubborn girl laying limp on the floor and an insensitive ass with a bloody nose not too far away.

Peeta immediately walks to me and tries to help me up. "I'm fine!" I scream at him. He freezes and pulls away his hand. He walks over to a bloody-nosed Cato who was sat up leaning against the wall. "I'm sorry, Peeta. I didn't mean to scream at you."

I sit up slightly and yelp in pain from the aching that has appeared in my head. _Clove, you have to get up. _I get on my hands and knees and stand up using the wall. The pain in my head surges even more painful than before.

I somehow make my way to the flight of stairs in one piece. _Okay, slowly up the steps now. _I lift my trembling foot slowly onto the first step. My nails have dug into the handrail that I have been grabbing onto for dear life. I take a few more cautious steps up before I realize the world is spinning around me. I wrap my arms around the banister hoping everything would soon fall still like normal.

The world did the exact opposite, everything span faster in a whirlwind. A scream fills the air around me and I slowly become aware that it was from me. Suddenly, everything blacks out and my knees collapse from under me.

**I know this is a late update, but I am really unmotivated right now. Sorry if it is completely terrible…**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Thank you so so much for reading and reviewing. I am not updating a lot because I have summer homework to do and I am busy reading your fanfictions. By the way, you should check out Paint on YouTube if you can. I absolutely love him and his videos so yea.**

My eyes flutter open to a pitch black room. The pain in my head has dwindled down to a small headache.

I sigh and reach for my phone. The bright lights from the screen blind me for a few seconds before my eyes readjust. _2:37 AM_. I am not even the slightest bit tired.

My stomach growls angrily at me, begging for even the slightest taste of food. There is probably some food left in the fridge from today.

I roll out of my bed and tiptoe past Annie's. I walk out the door and down the stairs with careful feet. The cold floor burns my bare feet with every step I take.

The light in the kitchen buzzes to life when I flick on the switch. I yank open the fridge and scan the contents. I close the door and walk over to the cupboard and grab the large bags of Lays and Cheetos.

I lay down on the couch and alternate shoving handfuls of the chips in my mouth while I watch SpongeBob Squarepants. I really didn't realize how hungry I am. The TV sucks me into my own little world. I don't even hear the person walk down the stairs.

"That's very attractive." His voice forces me out of my television trance. I reach for the remote and mute the TV for a minute. SpongeBob can wait.

I stand up and face him. "I try," I sarcastically whisper while I curtsy to him. Cato laughs at it and leans against the hallway wall. I walk past him into the kitchen.

I shove the chips back in the cupboard and turned around to where Cato was a few seconds ago. He was gone. _I swear I just talked to him. _

I turn around and scream. Cato's face was right in front of mine smiling. "Shh," he hushes, "You wouldn't want to wake everyone up." Was he serious? He was the one that just stood directly behind me to scare me. I roll my eyes and walk back over to the couch.

I turn the sound back on and slump into the couch. Cato walks over to where I am sitting and lies himself on top of my legs. I shove him off of me and stand up. He smiles warmly at me and laughs. My stomach flutters to life. _No Clove, don't fall again. Keep him away. _

Cato POV:

Clove pushes me off of her. I smile and laugh at her, hoping for at least a small smile back. She gives back nothing. Clove has no emotion of happiness on her face right now.

She turns away and walks towards the back door. Where does she think she is going? I stand up and rush over to the back door. I lift her off the ground and carry her back to the couch right before she walked out.

"Where exactly do you think you are going at 3AM?" I lay her down and crouch next to her. Her beautiful green eyes avoid me and look over at the clock instead.

"2:58 actually," she corrects me. Her quiet voice is barely audible. It's so cute when she corrects me.

"Not the point Clove." Clove still avoids eye contact and stares blankly at the ceiling. I place my hand on her arm and she flinches away. Something about her blank expression changes for a brief moment into a look of sadness, but switches back to what it was before. Was she scared of me?

Clove POV:

His hand rests gently on mine and I flinch. Cato's touch reminds me of his.

_He rests his hand on my arm and smiles at me. His smoky grey eyes are beautiful in the dim light. I smile back and lean into kiss him. Something about him just made me feel happy. He pulls away from our kiss and smiles at me. "I love you so much Clove." I kiss him again before replying. "I love you, too."_

Cato moves his hand away and stares at me like he is trying to analyze me. Maybe if I run now I can make it to the back door first.

"Clove. " Cato's voice is calm. If I talked right now, my voice wouldn't be calm at all. I would probably sound frantic.

The door is so close. I can probably make it.

"Are you okay?" Cato's voice is still calm. If I answer that question, I will most likely break down crying. _Stay strong._

I launch myself off the couch and immediately, Cato wraps his muscular arms around my stomach and sets me back on the couch. "Nice try."

"Why won't you let me go?" I whisper softly. Tears form in the corner of my eyes and threaten to fall down my face, but I push them away. Hopefully he didn't hear my voice crack when I talked.

"It's because you are obviously bothered by something." Cato's voice sounds the slightest bit worried but still calm as ever.

"Yea you," I mumble. That was a complete lie. I actually liked having him here. What? No, Clove, you hate his presence here next to you.

"You are bothered by someone who woke up in the middle of the night to check on you because they were worried about how you were?" Now he is making me feel like a complete bitch, great. "I feel really bad about yesterday. I gave you a fucking concussion for Christ's sake!"

I keep my eyes focused on the ceiling. "I'm fine now and you aren't really bothering me." Wait _what am I saying? I am bothered. Stop being so stupid Clove!_ "It's complicated." _God, what am I doing? I am just completely letting him in on my life. He now knows something is wrong if he didn't catch onto it before._

_Get out before you say anything else to him. _I sit up and try to get off the couch but Cato is there with a hand on my shoulder. "Don't run off outside, okay?" I nod and slide off the couch leaving him behind. I quietly walk up the steps and sneak into the room. I pass Annie and hop into my bed. I am still not tired, but I still close my eyes.

Cato fills my thoughts. His icy blue eyes, short blonde hair, and soft smile radiate through me. My stomach fills to the brim with butterflies again. I force the feeling down._ You don't feel like that, Clove, stop. _But, I just can't listen to my conscience, the feeling takes over me.

Cato POV:

Clove leaves me and walks up the stairs to her room. She was so sad and I knew something was hurting her. It killed me that I couldn't do anything about it. Just knowing that she isn't happy makes me feel terrible that I can't fix her problems.

"Ugh." I run my hand through my hair in frustration. She will never have the same feelings about me that I have about her.

I punch the green throw pillow and flop onto the couch. The pillow was green like Clove's eyes, a soft, foresty green. The pillow just reminds me of Clove and how upset she is which makes me mad at myself. "Fuck," I mutter and throw the pillow across the room. It hits the wall and drops to the ground.

"Hey Mr. Can't-Get-A-Girl." Finnick laughs at my struggle and sits on the couch next to me. He kicks his feet up and rests them on the coffee table. "You are trying way too hard."

"I am just frustrated because I can tell that something is wrong and I can't fix it." I turn so I am lying face down on the couch.

"Well um-um," Finnick stutters. I sit straight up and look over at him. He is staring down at his hands nervously.

"You know what's wrong, don't you?" Finnick bites his lower lip to stop himself from talking.

"I do, but I promised I wouldn't tell anyone." Well there goes my chance. "Sorry Cato."

"It's fine." I stare over at the TV which still plays SpongeBob. I flick it off and stare at the black screen. "Hey Finnick," I whisper to him. Finnick turns his head over to me and waits for me to continue. "Can you tell me if Clove ever likes me?"

He laughs at me and stands up. "You can figure it out yourself stupid." Finnick pats my back and then leaves me by myself. This is going to be impossible.

Clove POV:

I wake up at 5:30. The house is silent and it looks like no one is up. I swing my legs out of bed and quietly make my way down the stairs to the other end of the house. This side of the house is never inhabited, but that's what makes it perfect.

I open the door to the little room at the end of the hall with the dusty maple wood piano all alone in the corner. Every time I am over, I play on this piano and sing. No one knows I can play or even sing for that matter and I would like to keep it like that. I make sure the door is completely shut before I sit down on the small wooden piano bench.

My fingers run over the keys for a few minutes. I finally decide on a song and I start playing Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade.

_The best thing tonight's that we're not fighting._

I keep singing and playing softly until the chorus arrives.

_Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you_

_Over again_

_Don't make me change my mind._

A floorboard creaks behind me. My hands slam down onto the keys. _Busted._ I shoot around to see Cato smiling behind me. "You're really good." He sits down on the piano bench next to me. There goes the whole 'no one knows' thing.

"Well no one else knows about my singing or playing so keep your god damn mouth shut." Cato stares at me with a confused look on his face.

"Why not? You are amazing." Cato stares at the piano and then back at me. ''I start to blush, but I turn away from him and stand up

"Just don't tell anyone." I walk out the door, leaving my favorite room of this house, and run a hand through the tangled mess of my hair. I head straight to the kitchen for some food.

I open the kitchen fridge to find it empty. I groan and scribble down a note:

_Gone to get the store because you idiots don't buy any food when we run out._

_Clove_

I throw the note on the side and hop into my truck. I start the car and Maroon 5 blasts on full volume. "Shit," I mutter, turning it down. I need to get better at turning off the music.

Cato POV:

Her voice was beautiful a sunrise. Clove's voice was almost as beautiful as her. The way she sat at the piano with her hair flowing down her spine was beautiful. Her face was beautiful. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

I heard her car grumble out of the driveway and head down the road.

"The one that got away." Madge sings that one Katy Perry song while standing at the top of the stairs, peering down at me. "Why do you try exactly?" Madge walks down the stairs with her blonde hair twisted into a messy bun on top of her head. "She doesn't like you."

"She doesn't like me YET." Madge rolls her blue eyes at me. She walks to the couch and lies down.

"Good luck with that buddy." She grabs a cup from the coffee table and drinks the rest of its contents before placing it on the floor.

I look outside at the beach which was starting to slowly fill up with people. Maybe I can hit on some girl to get my mind off Clove. "I'll be outside." I throw off my shirt and toss it next to the door.

I scan the beach for a decent girl. I pick a tall blonde by the water and walk over to her. "Hey," I say. I keep imaging this girl as Clove. "I'm Cato."

Clove POV:

It takes me about 5 minutes to get to the store by car or 10 minutes by walking.

The Safeway doors slide open and I grab a cart. I grab a carton of milk and orange juice and throw it in along with two giant bags of marshmallows, whipped cream, and a few donuts. I steer the cart to an aisle and ride the grocery cart down it. The cart stops and I grab two things of Nutella. I finish the food run by getting a tray of blueberry muffins.

The cashier gives me a weird look as she scans all of the items. "$32.76." The machine prints off the receipt and I pull out a wad of cash from my pocket. She hands me the change and mutters, "Have a good day," in a monotonous voice then pulls out her cell phone.

I throw the grocery bags in the passenger seat before driving back to Finn's house. It's already fairly hot outside. I guess it's a beach day.

I park my truck in the same line of expensive cars as usual. I take the bags inside and unload them into the fridge.

"Whatcha got there?" Finnick leans shirtless against the kitchen counter.

"Elephants." I grab two donuts and close the fridge door. I throw the sprinkle one at Finn and keep the powdered sugar.

"That takes talent." He takes a large bite of the donut and sits down at the table.

I start rubbing on sunscreen and turn to him. "I'm going to be on the beach." I slide my sunglasses on and open the back door. "Would it kill you to put on a shirt?" Finnick smirks and stuffs the rest of the donut in his mouth.

Cato POV:

"Wow, you have really big muscles." The blonde girl squeezes my arm and giggles. She stares down at my abs and runs her hands across them. "Nice abs." She bites her bottom lip and steps closer to me.

"Uh, thanks." This girl was hot, but all I could think about is Clove. I imagine her at the piano right now, her hands gliding across the keys naturally and her foot pushing down on the pedals. I can practically hear her voice echoing through me this very moment.

The girl stares at me and smiles. "You're so hot." She places her arms on my shoulder and leans in to kiss me.

Clove POV:

I walk out the back door and see Madge leaning over the railing drinking bottled water. "Hi Madge." I lean over the railing next to her and she smiles at me.

"Cato is over there flirting with a random chick he found on the beach." I look over and see this platinum blond girl feeling Cato's muscles. "She's totally a slut."

Cato seems to just hit on every girl he sees that has big boobs or a good butt. What can I do to completely mess up his chances with that whore? "What would you do if I went over there right now and slapped him in the face?"

Madge looked at me and laughed. "You wouldn't," she says unbelieving that I would do such a thing. It was usually her to go and do something stupid like that. I normally just waited for her to finish being stupid.

"I'm going to make a total scene." I walk down the porch steps that lead to the beach. The girl runs her hands over his six-pack. _She's definitely a slut._ The girl places her arms on his muscular shoulders and leans in to kiss him. _Perfect timing. _

Right before her lips meet Cato's, I slap his face with all the force I can pack into a slap. "You jerk!" I scream at him. Fake tears stream down my face as I yell. "I'm your girlfriend you fucking cheater!" Cato just stands there with his mouth agape. He had no clue what was happening. "I loved you." By now, everyone on the beach was staring at us. The slut stands there with a 'what the fuck is happening right now?' kind of look plastered onto her face. "We're through, asshole!" I shove him into the surf, turn around, and run straight to the beach house with my face in my hands to make it look like I'm crying.

I reach the wooden steps of the house and I run up the steps to Madge. She looks at me and we both collapse to the ground and laugh for what seems like forever.

Cato POV:

What just happened? Clove ran up to me, slapped me, freaked out about me 'cheating on her', and then she left. We never dated, so what was her problem? She actually seemed upset at me.

The platinum blond girl slaps me across the face as Clove runs away. "You're sick."

My face still stung from being slapped by Clove; she can pack force into a hit. It felt like the other girl tapped my face let alone slap it.

I got back to the porch of Finnick's beach house and found Clove and Madge laughing on the ground. "What the hell was that, Clove?" Their faces that are red from laughter stare up at me and they laugh even harder.

"You should have seen your face!" Clove laughs at me. It was all a joke, one sick joke to make me look like a douche bag in front of a whole bunch of people. It was still hilarious even though it was to mess with me.

"I am so getting revenge on you." Clove stops laughing and looks horrified at me. I laugh evilly at her like one of those TV show evil laughs that sounded like 'mwuahahaha.' This was going to be fun.

**So tomorrow, I am thinking about posting another story that I have written part of. Again, it's Clato :3 **

**Oh and I am sorry about the sucky ending to the cliffhanger… I didn't want to put something in like her being hospitalized. Too early for that ;) I love you guys so much.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey so thank you so much for the reviews, they mean a lot :) Check out my new story Something Called Love! It's Cato and Clove before the games. I'll stop talking now…**

Clove POV:

This whole day I have been on edge. I turn around at any sound I hear. Cato says he is getting revenge on me, but I just don't know how. He seemed really excited to scare me.

In the few seconds that I was thinking and let my guard down, someone comes and sneaks up behind me. Cato shakes my body and yells, "Boo!" in my ear.

I scream and turn around. I hit his arm. "Fuck you Cato!" He smiles a laughs really cutely. _Stop it Clove. _I scowl at him and he laughs harder. _Don't smile don't smile don't smile. _"Please just get revenge on me right now. I can't take the constant fear of what you are going to do!"

"Aw someone's scared," Cato says to me like I'm a little kid. He ruffles my hair up a bit and smiles.

I, of course, acted childish in reply. "Am not," I grumble crossing my arms and stomping the ground. He laughs again and I find myself staring at him.

"Tonight," he points at me and backs away, disappearing into the kitchen. I let myself smile a little before walking outside to the beach.

Cato POV:

Clove was jumping at every sound she heard. She seems a little bit paranoid. I'm not going to do anything completely terrible.

She walks out the back door and disappears off the porch onto the sand. I run and grab the ice water that has just finished melting and set it next to the door. I grab a towel and blanket for her and set those by the door, too.

Clove was just too damn cute to watch her suffer being cold. Now all I have to wait for Clove to come back.

Clove POV:

The sun is starting to set on the horizon as I lay down on the warm sand. The sand immediately surrounds me in warmth. I smile and stare at the pinkish sky.

The sun disappears over the ocean and I walk back to the house. I slide open the back door and walk inside. I feel a rush of cold hit the left side of my body and drip down to the floor. My mouth is open wide in shock while Cato is on the ground laughing at me.

"Cato!" I fling some of the water off me and onto him. He just stands up and buries me in a towel. "That was freaking cold," I mumble through the towel.

Cato takes the towel off me and throws it across the room. "It should be, it's melted ice." He smirks. Cato grabs a fuzzy towel and wraps it around me. "See I was nice and didn't make it a terrible punishment, and I helped you afterwards." He was right. He could have thrown water on me and left. He could have even hid all the towels and blankets from me.

"I hate being cold," I complain. Cato walks away to the kitchen, leaving me standing alone in the living room. He comes back with a mug with steam rising out of it and hands it to me.

It's a large cup of hot chocolate. I take it from and take a sip. The sickly sweet liquid burns my mouth, but I don't care. I smile at Cato and respond, "Thanks." He smiles back to me and walks over to the couch.

I stand there and sip from the mug when he sits down. "You don't have to stand there, you know." I stick out my tongue at him and sit on the opposite end of the couch then him. "I don't bite," Cato adds, "Unless you want me to." He winks at me and I throw a pillow at him.

"You are really gross," I mention. He stands up and walks over to me. He sits on the couch next to me with 3 feet between us. Every few minutes he would shift over closer to me.

When he was 1 foot away from me, I slapped him on his arm. "Stop!" We both laugh for a little while.

My mug is now bone dry and I'm tired, so I decide to call it a day. "Hey, I'm just going to go to sleep." I stand up and walk to the kitchen. I place my mug on the side and walk back. "Night Cato," I whisper. I reach the stairs when he replies to me.

"Night Clove," Cato shouts from the couch. I walk up the stairs and crawl under the covers of the bed with my clothes on. I drift into sleep instantly.

Cato POV:

I lie still on the couch and stare at the cream painted ceiling above me. It's absolutely impossible for me to not think about Clove. The way her dark chocolate hair flows down her back is just beautiful. She is absolutely beautiful.

I need her. I would probably do almost anything to be with her. She's just so breathtaking. The only problem is she doesn't want me.

I know I should move to my room, but I don't; I just fall asleep on the couch, thinking about Clove.

Clove POV:

It's early in the morning. And by early, I mean most people on the east coast haven't gotten up yet. I'm not tired even though I only got 4 hours of sleep.

I pull on my sports bra and running shorts before slipping on my tennis shoes. I tie up my tangled mess of hair in a tight ponytail and sneak down the stairs. No one is awake, as usual.

I reach the back door when I hear a mumble coming from the couch. "Clove?" Cato stretches and rubs his sleepy eyes. His blond hair tussled and his shirt is wrinkled. It's obvious Cato was sleeping on the couch last night and I just woke him up.

I silently curse myself for not being quiet. "Hey Cato." He stands up and drags himself over to me.

"Where are you going? It's 3am." What's with him and stopping me from leaving?

I gesture to my clothes. "Running."

Cato runs his hand through his hair and looks down at me. "It's 3am. There could be murderers. And how the hell will you see where you are going?" He was definitely starting to wake up.

"I'll be fine." I start, but I know that isn't enough. "I will be back in an hour, okay?" I push the door open and walk outside into the cold darkness.

"I'll be waiting," he announces, crossing his arms across his muscular chest sternly. He closes the back door and walks out of view.

I stretch on the deck for 5 minutes before starting my run. I have got to say, running at 3am isn't the brightest idea ever. Cato was kind of right when he asked how will I know where I'm going.

I turn around and run back to the house, knowing that I should get back at 4 or Cato will freak. Why do I even care if he will freak? He won't seriously be awake, right?

I reach the house and a wave of exhaustion hits me, but I push it away. I slide the door open and see Cato sitting shirtless on the couch staring at his phone. "Hi?" He looks up at me and smiles.

"I thought you weren't going to listen to me." I walk over to the couch and fall onto it face first. "You tired?" He laughs.

"Ahnt oo?" I mumble into the couch.

"What?"

I lift my head from the cushion and repeat myself. "Aren't you?"

"Nope." We sit there in silence for a few seconds before Cato speaks again. "Actually I am a little tired." He lays his body on top of me and squishes me.

"Cato! Off!" I laugh quietly while he fake yawns. "Stop!" I push him off me and sit up. Before I can talk again, he wraps his arms around me and pulls me on top of him.

"Cato! Let me go!" He doesn't listen, though; he keeps me in a tight lock in his arms. I try to escape from him, but it's no use; I don't even move an inch. There is no point; I give up trying to get away. Exhaustion sweeps over me again and I yawn loudly. "Cato," I mumble sleepily, "Let me go." Before he could answer me, I was asleep, listening to the steady sound of his heartbeat.

Cato POV:

Clove is now asleep. On top of me. Only wearing a sports bra, shorts, and shoes. Well this is awkward.

I probably should wake her up, but she looks so peaceful. Carrying to her and Annie's room is a better idea. I'll carry her up in 5 minutes.

Clove lies on my chest curled in a ball kind of like a little cat. She seems so happy when she sleeps. I wish she was this happy when she is awake. Something is stopping her from being happy around me.

I soon fall asleep to her constant, slow breathing.

Finnick POV:

I crawl out of bed, it's about 7am. I groan at the clock and stumble down the stairs to the kitchen.

I walk through the living room and stop in my tracks. Cato is asleep on the couch with no shirt on and Clove is curled up in a ball sleeping on top of his bare chest only wearing a sports bra, shorts, and tennis shoes.

I turn around and run back up the stairs to Annie and Clove's room. I walk over to Annie and shake her gently.

"I'm fucking sleeping right now- Oh hey Finnick." Her expression changes when she sees me standing above her. Her dark brown hair rests perfectly on her pillow. She sits up and rubs her eyes. "What do you want?"

"You got to come see this." I walk to the bedroom door and turn back to her. "Bring your camera." She jolts out of bed and grabs her phone from the nightstand before greeting me at the door. She's wearing an overly large t-shirt and pale pink running shorts underneath.

We both stride down the stairs and turn into the living room. She sees Cato and Clove and almost bursts out laughing. Annie takes her cell phone and takes a few photos. "Does this deserve a video?" she whispers to me.

"Yes, yes it does."

Clove POV:

I wake up slowly and open my eyes. I am not in the bedroom at all; I am in the living room. And this doesn't feel like a couch. I look over and see Cato sleeping beneath me. I roll off him in shock and crash to the floor.

Last night's events quickly took over me. I start to remember me running and Cato staying up for me and him lying on top of me and me being held on top of him.

I walk back upstairs and throw a shirt over my sports bra. One thing is off, though. Annie is usually asleep until 10, but she isn't in bed. I run down stairs into the dining room and see Annie and Finnick eating breakfast. "Aw, you woke up." Finnick complains.

"What? Yea, I'm always up early, unlike you, Annie."

"Oh Finnick woke me up. He wanted me to see something really interesting." Annie winks at me. _Shit._

"Yea," Finn adds, "_Really _interesting." Annie walks over to me and holds out her phone. I see a picture of me curled up asleep on top of half naked Cato. "You want to tell us what happened?" Finn walks over next to Annie and stares at me intently.

"Nope." I reply before walking away from them.

"Okay, we will just put this video and pictures all over Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc." I stop in my tracks when Annie says this. I turn to them and walk back over.

"Fuck you guys," I mumble. I try to walk away now, but Annie stops me by playing a video on her phone.

_"Aw look at them!" _I hear Annie's voice squeal in the video. How did I not wake up from her being so loud?

I stare at the video on her phone. The camera turns to Finnick and he speaks. "_They'd be so cute together."_

The camera moves back to the couch and Annie steps in front of the camera so she's in the picture, too. _"Look they are smiling!"_ She steps behind the camera and zooms in on our faces. Cato lies there smiling with his arms wrapped around my small 5'3 frame. I am curled on top of him with a slight smile on my face.

Annie shuts off the video and puts her phone in her pocket. Finnick and Annie lean on the table and wait for me to talk.

"Hey," Cato walks through the door from the living room. "What's going on?" Cato walks over and sits in a chair next to me.

"Aw, you guys are so cute." Annie whistles at us. That's it. I am completely done with this.

I push away from the table and walk away. When I am halfway up the steps, I hear shouts coming from behind me. "Hey, wait." A hand is placed on my shoulder and I turn around to be met with sea-green eyes. "Clove, I'm sorry. We were just having fun. It's not often that you see Clove in love" He winks at me.

"FINNICK! I AM NOT!" I slap his arm.

"Totally are." I roll my eyes and walk up to the room.

I grab all the stuff I brought here and take it down stairs. I load everything into my truck and walk back inside the house.

"Are you leaving?" Cato leans against the wall by the door.

"No, I never leave; I live here in the closet." I roll my eyes and walk away. Boys can be really stupid sometimes.

"Well, I was just going to ask you if you wanted to hang." _Shit. Did he really just ask me out? _"Just as friends if you were thinking that I was asking you out." I can't hang out with him. I can't get close to him.

"Well, uh, my mom needs me at home, so." I was a terrible liar. It didn't help that I had to reject his offer of friendness activities.

"Yea, okay. Maybe later?"

"Sure." I smile and walk to the kitchen. Finnick is leaning on the table and talking to Annie. "Hey I'm leaving Finn."

Finn runs over to me and envelops me. "No don't leave!" He cried jokingly. Finn was now starting to prevent me from breathing.

"Finn. Can't. Breath," I say breathlessly. He releases his grip on me and steps away.

"Sorry," he laughed. I walk over and Annie and hug her.

"Bye Annie."

"Bye Clove." She smiles and waves me goodbye. "Text me when you get home!"

"Okey Dokey." I walk out of the house to my car and drive away, down the narrow gravel road. I turn onto the main road and get on the highway. The whole way back I am too deep in thought to even turn on the radio or listen to music.

Cato POV:

Clove just leaves. She doesn't even give me her number or anything. How could I just let her get away like that?

She's such a complicated person. I can usually read girls like a book, but Clove I can't seem to get. She doesn't like attention, she doesn't like talking about herself, and she doesn't like me.

"Rejection!" Katniss screams from the top of the stairs.

"Shut up." I mumble. She just laughs at me.

"Katniss!" Annie runs up the stairs and envelops her friend in a large hug. "I haven't seen you this whole weekend! What were you doing?"

Katniss bites her lip and stares at the floor. She crosses her arms over her stomach and tries to hide from making conversation.

"No." Annie whispers. Annie hugs her and Katniss starts crying into her shoulder. "What a jerk."

"Oh my god, Katniss!" Madge runs over and hugs her, too. Finnick joins the group hug at the top of the stairs.

"Can someone explain what's going on?" I just stand there at the bottom of the stairs awkwardly. Everyone breaks apart the hug and walks down. The girls walk over to the living room and Finnick walks over to me.

"Breakup," Finn clarifies.

"Ah okay." We stand there for a minute in complete silence before I speak again. "Want to go to the living room?"

"Sure." We walk over to the living room and I start to hear the girls comforting Katniss.

"Come on."

"You deserved better."

"I'll beat him up."

"Not as bad as what happened to Clove."

I find myself blurting into their conversation. "What happened to Clove?" Madge and Annie turn to me and stare.

"Fuck. You didn't hear that." Annie and Madge turn their attention to Katniss again. "It's okay sweetie."

Peeta trudges down the stairs and walks into the living room. "Hey what's- Katniss are you okay?" He walks over to the front of the couch and crouches in front of her. "Don't cry." He brushes hair out of her face and pulls her into a hug. "I hate it when people are upset."

"Sorry," Katniss sniffles.

Peeta releases her from his hug and smiles at her. "It wasn't your fault." Peeta walks away from the couch and walks to us. "Hey guys."

"Hey loverboy," Finnick jokes.

"Shut up." Peeta walks by us and back upstairs. Peeta has had this crush (Read as: Obsession) on Katniss for God knows how long. He has even watched her walk home from school.

"Hey guys?" Finnick says and walks across the room. He reaches over the coffee table and grabs a pair of sunglasses. "Are these Clove's?"

Annie and Madge look up and say, "Yes," in unison before turning their attention back on Katniss.

Finnick sighs and walks back to me. "Guess I have to drive these over."

"No I'll do it." I volunteer a little too quickly. "Well, I'm going out tomorrow anyway so I could drop them 'round."

Finnick laughs at me and hands over the glasses. "Here, I'll give you her address." Finnick walks over to the kitchen and comes back with a sticky note with an address scribbled on it. "Here."

I take the sticky note from Finnick and look at the clock. "You know, I should probably leave." I practically sprint up the stairs and grab my stuff, run down the stairs, and shoot out the door before Finnick responds. I climb in my red convertible and back out of the driveway.

I speed down the highway away from the beach. While weaving through the many cars, I think to myself about Clove, her smile, her laugh, her warmth, just everything about her. I have never been this love struck with ANY girl, and there has been a lot. I need to talk to Clove today. I can't wait until tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! I love that you guys like my fanfic :3 I start school next week :P So don't expect me to update too much. **

Clove POV:

I pull into the driveway and park the truck. I throw the bag of my stuff over my shoulder and walk in my house. "Hey mom."

Something clatters in the kitchen and then I see my mom come running at me in high heels and apron. She is wearing a beautiful silver dress, a jade necklace, her hair is curled, and her makeup is done. "Clove sweetie!" She hugs me and walks back to the kitchen. I follow her and see a roast chicken in the oven and a collection of vegetables boiling on the stove.

"What's all this for?" She stirs the vegetables and checks on the chicken.

"We are having people over!" She looks me over and scowls. "You should go make yourself look nicer."

"Love you too, Mom," I mumble before going to shower. I lock the bathroom door behind me and strip off my clothes. The hot water beats down my back when I step in.

After about 30 minutes of showering, I get out and blow dry my hair. I leave it as it is and put on makeup. I usually put on as minimal makeup as possible, but as my mom is dressed up, I put on more than usual, which for me means silver eye liner, bolder eye shadow, and black mascara mascara.

I finish up and slip on a grey strapless dress that stops just above my knees that flows around me freely. I force myself into a pair of black 3 inch heels before my bedroom door is pushed opened. My 2 year old Red Merle Australian Shepherd comes barreling towards me.

"Hi Delilah." I kneel down and meet my dog with a hug. She reaches up and gives my face a slobbery kiss. "Yuck!" Delilah barks and runs out the room and down the stairs.

"They're here!" My mom yells from downstairs. "Get the door!"

I cling to the staircase and hope I don't fall over. My mom is taking Delilah into the bedroom when I reach the bottom of the staircase. I open the front door and see what I can only make out to be Marvel Hart and his parents. I pull on a fake smile and welcome them in. "Hi Mrs. Hart, Mr. Hart, Marvel." I gesture for them to come inside and shut the door after Marvel walks in.

My mom runs out from the bedroom and greets the Hart family. "Genine, Walter, how good to see you. Oh Marvel, you are getting tall!" She takes the parents into the dining room, leaving me with Marvel.

He tightens his tie and slightly acknowledges me. "Hi." Marvel reaches into his jacket and pulls out his phone and starts texting.

"You want anything to drink?" I ask politely.

Marvel looks up and smiles at me. "Water." He looks back down at his phone before realizing that I haven't left. "Please."

"Thank you." I walk over to the kitchen and pour two large glasses of water. My mom is chatting up Genine and Walter and doesn't even notice me. I walk back over to Marvel who is still texting. I set the waters down on the coffee table and sit on the living room couch.

"You can sit down, you know, I don't bite." Marvel laughs at my comment and sits on the couch next to me. He stares down at his phone again and continues texting. "Want to go do something?"

Marvel looks up from his phone and smiles. "Sure." I stand up and walk to the front door with Marvel trailing behind me.

"Hey mom, Marvel and I are going outside."

"Be back for dinner in 30," my mom shouts from the dining room.

I open the door and walk outside to the garage. My heels are killing me, so I slip them off my feet and throw them on my lawn. Marvel shuts the door behind him and leans on the wall. His face turns sour when I hand him a skateboard. "I thought we were going to do something fun," he leans in closer to me so he is a few inches from my face, "Like make out."

I shove Marvel away from me and start walking up the street with my longboard in hand. "Nice try Hart."

Marvel runs to catch up to me. "Are you really going to longboard in _that_?" He eyes me up and down before laughing a little. It made me really uncomfortable when he stared at my body. Heck, I was uncomfortable with anyone staring at my body.

"Do you doubt my skills to skate in a dress?" Marvel pondered my question for a minute before shaking his head. "Good because I'm going down first." We have reached the top of the street. My street is slightly slanted downward and is really good for skating because of the length and how little cars actually drive down here.

"No way, me first!" Marvel puts the skateboard down and kicks off the ground. _Well, I can't stop him now._ I wait for Marvel to get down to my house before I put the longboard on the ground and I start off down the street.

I feel free. The wind flows through my hair and makes the bottom of my dress. I throw my hands up in the air and take a deep breath. I wish I could live like this forever.

_This would be the worst time to have a wardrobe malfunction._ Luckily, that didn't happen, I turned into my driveway to my mom standing there with her arms crossed.

"Clove! Where's your helmet? That's dangerous and very unladylike! You could have ruined that dress! Why are your heels on the lawn?" My mom is furious with me.

"Mom I'm fine. I was having fun." I place the longboard back and shut the garage door.

"Never do that again." My mom grabs my wrist and forcefully drags me back inside, stopping briefly to pick up my heels from the grass. I see Marvel and his parents already at the table eating. I sit down at the table sitting between my mom and Marvel's dad.

The moment my mom gets back to the table, the adults become involved in a loud, in-depth conversation about something that doesn't particularly interest me. I push my food around my plate and stab at my chicken.

When I can't take just sitting there anymore, I stand up from the table and place the plate in the sink excusing myself.

"Clove Aubrey Mo-" My mom sternly begins before I rudely interrupt.

"I'm going to my room." I can hear my mom yelling my name as I swiftly make my way up the stairs and shut my bedroom door. I turn the lock and sit down on my bed.

My phone vibrates on the table and I reach over to grab it. **2 new messages**_,_ my phone reads on its little screen.

There is one from Katniss from 3 hours ago. **He broke up with me.**We totally warned her, but she loved him.

I reply back to her, **Aw sweetie I'm sorry :(. **

There is another from a number not in my contacts. **Hey sorry for you getting in trouble. -Marvel.**

I stare blankly at my phone before replying. **It's not your fault. And how did you get my number creeper?**I toss my phone onto my blankets and lie on my bed next to it.

After a few minutes, my phone buzzes. I pull it out and read the message from Marvel. **I know some people ;)**

I roll my eyes and respond to him. **Well okay then…**

A minute later, another Marvel message pops up on my phone_. _**I had fun tonight :)**

**Good to hear that!**I smile and set my phone down again. I wrap myself in my sheets and wait for a reply, but end up drifting off to sleep.

Cato POV:

I slump lazily on the couch and flick on the TV. The channel is on a soccer game, but I don't even care enough to watch.

My phone vibrates on the coffee table and the screen lights up. It's a message from Marvel**.** **Hey.**

I pick up my phone and text him back. **Hey dude what's up?**

I look at the TV. The score is 2-0 and the first half just finished.

My phone vibrates again. **I just got back from dinner at the Morrison's. Their daughter is hot ;)**

I sit up straight and reread the message. It has to be her right? **Morrison's? As in Clove? **

Marvel replies after waiting an agonizing minute. **Yea the one you called beautiful. You still have no chance.**

Before I could respond, he texted me again, but this time, it was a picture. The picture was of Clove. Her grey strapless dress stops at her knees and her hair is out of its usual pony tail and flowing down her back like when she was playing piano. She had heels and makeup on, but I don't think she realized Marvel took the picture because she wasn't looking at the camera.

**Why didn't you tell me you were over there? I would have gone!**

**Because she doesn't like you! Bye Cato. **I throw my phone down on the couch. At least I can see her tomorrow.

Clove POV:

_His grey sparkling eyes glare at me as he shouts at me. "Just listen to me!" He slams me against the car hood definitely bruising my back. I gasp in pain and he just laughs. "You're so weak." I try to move but he tightens his grip. "I said listen! I love you Clove." _

He leans in and his deep brown hair brushes against my face. He whispers softly into my ear,_ grazing it with his lips as he talks. "I can't bear to be away from you." He pushes himself closer to me so our bodies are touching. He runs his hand down my back and over my butt. _

_"Stop," I mumble, but he doesn't. I try to swat his hands off me, but they come straight back onto my body. "Stop!" I yell. I shove him away from me and he gets furious._

_He lunges at me and punches me across the face. I fall to the concrete and watch as he comes over snarling and kicks me in the stomach. "Bitch." He hops into his car and drives off away from me._

* * *

I wake up to see light streaming in through my window. It looks like it's about 8am based on where the sun is in the sky.

After about a fifteen minute shower, I get dressed and go downstairs for breakfast. My mom isn't down here, but there's a note on the counter which I assume is her. I assumed correctly.

_Clove,_

_I'm out buying groceries and doing errands. Last night was a warning. Be careful._

_Mom_

I ate a bowl of cereal and left my dirty dish on the side to indicate to my mom that I am up and have had breakfast. I walk to my room and put on some sweatpants and a tight-fitting, pastel blue v-neck. The house is so silent. Without thinking, I reached for my computer and started playing music.

Cato POV:

I drive down Clove's street and park across the street from her dark green two-story house. I'm about to step out the car when I see another car pull into the driveway. I'm guessing it's Mrs. Morrison because her hair's is the same brown as Clove's and she also shares about the same height as Clove does.

I watch her unload a few bags from her Volkswagen Jetta and walk in the house. I wait ten minutes before getting out of my convertible. I grab Clove's glasses and walk to the house. I knock on the door and step back.

A lady, about 40 opens the door and stares up at me. "Hello."

She seems intimidated by my height so I try not to sound too scary. "Hi I am Cato Pierce, is Clove Morrison home?" I give her a warm smile and she relaxes a bit.

"Can I might ask why you need her?" The mom looks over her left shoulder up the stairs and looks back at me.

"She left her sunglasses at Finnick's beach house and I came here to return them."

The woman steps out of the way and gestures for me to come in. "She's right up the stairs in her room. It's the first door on the right."

"Thank you." I climb up the staircase and come to Clove's room. I hear the faint noise of music coming from behind the door. I knock, but there is no response, so I open the door and step inside.

Clove is facing away from me in her light blue room dancing and singing to Little Talk by Of Monsters and Men. I don't even think I can call that dancing; it's more like random hand and body motions.

She belts out the chorus and shoots her hands in the air. She flails them around a little and then turns around. She stops dead in her tracks and her mouth is wide open. Clove turns to her computer and shuts off the music. I catch her face blush a little before it fades.

"What are you doing here?" she grumbles. Clove puts her hand on her hips and stares over to me.

"You forgot these at Finnick's." She took them from my hand and threw them on the bed. "You're welcome," I mumble.

Clove runs a hand through her hair. "So, is that all you wanted from me?"

_No, it's not. _"Yes." I turn and leave when her mom stops me at Clove's doorway.

"Clove, aren't you going to invite your friend to stay for lunch?"

Clove groans and looks over to me. "Do you want lunch? No? Okay bye." She walks over and tries to push me out of her room, but I didn't budge.

"Clove," her mom's stern voice warns her and Clove steps away from me.

Clove crosses her arms and looks up at me. "Do you want to stay for food?"

_Yes, I do. I want to stay and talk to you more. "_No, I am fine, thank you." _Shit, why did I decline? _"I don't want to bother you too much, Mrs. Morrison."

"Oh no, it would be a delight to have you." She insists on me staying, but I know that Clove will hate me if I stay.

"Maybe another time, I have errands to run." I smile politely and Mrs. Morrison leads me down the stairs and opens the door for me.

"Bye Cato," she smiles and shuts the door when I walk out.

I walk up to my convertible and jerk open the door. I sit in and slam the door. _I'm so stupid. I should have stayed. _I slam my hands down on the wheel and drive away from her house.

Clove POV:

Cato finally leaves my room along with my mom. I fall onto my bed and I hear the door shut. My mom walks up the stairs and welcomes herself into my room.

"Clove that was rude." I ignore her and lay still on my back, staring at the ceiling. "And you didn't tell me that there was another boy at the beach house! I trust Finnick, but not some older boy who I have never met. Are you going out? Did you have se-?"

"MOM! No I didn't do anything with him. He's more of an acquaintance than anything else. Cato is Devon's friend." I turn on my side away from her and try to block her nonsense out of my head. What would make her think that we are dating? I turn over to her to see that she is still standing by my door. "Why do you think we are going out?"

"Well, you haven't gotten close to a guy since, you know." She walks over and strokes my head. "Cato seems nice, very polite."

I roll my eyes and laugh. "If you call throwing cold water on me nice and polite," I scoff. My mom is taken back by this statement. "But he did give me a towel after, so I don't know."

My mom stands up and walks to the door. "Lunch is down stairs sweetie. I'm going out."

"Cool." I hear the front door shut and my mom's car start. I pick up my phone and text Marvel. **Hey :)**

A few minutes later, he replies. **Hey Clove. What's up? **

I sit there and think for a minute before replying. **Do you know Cato?** I press send and wait for his reply.

**Yes why?**

I type the reply slowly and hesitate before pressing send. I reread my text that just sent to Marvel. _Can't take it back now Clove._ **Can I have his number?**

**More Clato moments are on their way! And who is this mysterious guy who cheated on Clove? He's coming soon. I'll try to update ASAP**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! New chapter because I like procrastinating on homework! YAY!**

Clove POV:

Marvel texts me back finally. It took him 10 minutes which is a long time to wait for a reply. **Yea sure here it is.** He attaches the phone number to the text.

I save Cato's number into my phone then reply. **Thanks. Well I have to go. Talk to you later Marv.**

**Bye Clove :) **

I type a message quickly to Cato and send it.

Cato POV:

I flop onto my bed and kick off my shoes. I had just gotten back from Clove's house. I wish I could know why she doesn't like me already. Mostly every girl will go out with me, unfortunately, Clove isn't one of them.

My phone vibrates next to me. I look at the number the text message is from, but I don't know it. **Hey it's Clove. Sorry about earlier… **

It's Clove. I thought she hated me. How did she get my number?

As if hearing my question, Marvel texts me, answering my question. **Clove just asked me for your number. **

I respond to Clove, **No problem :)**, I sit up on the bed and smile. Clove asked for _my _number.

In no time, she replies back. **My mom thought we were going out…**

Well, isn't that interesting. **That's hilarious!**

**She thought you were 'nice and very polite.' And then I told her that you threw water on me and then she dropped that opinion. So mostly, you better watch it around my mom Cato ;)**

**Well it's good to know that I am on good terms with your mom now :P**

My phone goes off again. It's a message from Jackie. **Hey everyone! I'm having a party before school starts. It's tomorrow, so arrive at my house at 8. Everyone's invited. See you there! :)**

Clove replies to my text. **Hey I need to go. Talk to you later Cato :D**

I set my phone down and breathe for a minute. _Well at least she doesn't hate me._

Clove POV:

I walk downstairs and look at the lunch that my mom set out for me thirty minutes ago. It consists of a bacon sandwich, watermelon, and orange juice. I sit down and start eating it.

I pick up my phone and call Annie. She answers on the first ring. "Hey Clove. Are you going to Jackie's tomorrow?"

Yes I got the text to go, but I don't really like big parties with lots of people. "I don't want to-"

"You are going to that party! Come to my house at 4 and we will get ready."

"Fine, I'll go."

"So what'd you call for?"

I swallow and take a deep breath before responding. "Cato came over today."

I heard something drop on the other end of line. "Are you serious? Why?" I can hear her excitement and I can picture her impatiently waiting for a reply.

"He dropped off my sunglasses that I left. I tried pushing him out of my room. He left. My mom thought we were dating."

"Oh my gosh, really? That's really funny." Annie is cracking up on the other end of the line.

"She thought he was nice and polite, too." Annie laughs even harder.

I place my empty plate on the kitchen side and sit down on the couch. My mom walks through the door carrying grocery bags. "Hey Annie, I'll see you tomorrow." I hang up the phone and walk to the staircase.

"Hi honey, what are you doing tomorrow with Annie?" My mom says from the kitchen.

"Oh she's taking me to Jackie's party and then I'm staying over at hers." I pull out my phone and text Annie to ask if I can stay over at hers after the party. Luckily, she says yes.

"Okay."

I walk up the stairs to my room and shut the door. I lay down on my bed burying myself in my sheets. My blankets envelop me and I slowly fall asleep.

* * *

_He walks closer to me; his face is twisted into an angry glare and his right hand is clenched around a baseball bat. "You aren't leaving me." He keeps walking towards me at a terrifyingly slow pace._

_"You cheated on me with my best friend!" I try to scoot away, not taking my eyes off him, but I run into the wall. Tears start to flow down my face. "Don't hurt me." I curl into a ball and shut my eyes._

_He laughs at me. "I will only hurt you if you leave." I can feel his warm breath coming from above my head. I can't run, I can't call for help. I'm so helpless in my own house. "Never try to leave me again." _

_A pain shoots through my left arm. I scream and open my eyes that are flooded with tears. My vision is blurry, but I can make him out, walking towards my front door with his bat still in his hand._

* * *

I wake up in my bed panting heavily. My room is dark and I can read the time on thh clock. _1:47. _I sit up and run a hand through my hair. _Oh the wonderful nightmares your ex gives you. _

I walk out of my room and sneak down the stairs. The house is dark, but I can make my way around without tripping on anything. I walk out the back door and sit down on the deck.

My thoughts engross me and before I know it, the sun is starting to rise on the horizon. _Shit. I lost track of time. _I walk in the house and grab an apple. I walk to the living room, flick on the TV, and sit down.

I watch Fairly Odd Parents for an hour when my mom wakes up. "Hey, you're up early." I get up lazily and join her in the kitchen.

"Yea, but I'm tired, so I'm going back to sleep." I kiss her on the cheek and walk upstairs to my room. It is just how I left it, a mess. Within second of slipping under my covers, I fall asleep.

Cato POV:

The cereal floating in my bowl has turned soggy from me pushing it around instead of eating it. My spoon clinks on the side of the bowl every few seconds.

"Cato, what's wrong sweetie?" My mom rubs my back and sits in the chair next to me.

"I don't know," I mumble before standing up and dumping the wasted cereal and milk in the sink. Nothing was actually wrong, I was just thinking about everything.

There are only a few more hours until the party starts and I can lose myself in the hype of everything. Only a few more hours.

Clove POV:

Something lands on top of me. My breath is being squeezed out of me. I can't breathe.

"Wake up Lazy Butt." Annie scruffs my hair and hops off of me. I take in a large breath. "It's 4."

"Ugh I don't want to go." I roll over and shove my face in the pillow and pull the blankets up.

Annie grasps my ankles and swiftly drags me out of bed. The impact of my body with the cold hardwood flooring made me groan.

"Come on," Annie says, holding out her hand to help me up. I accept it and walk with Annie out of my room.

"Bye, Mom, see you tomorrow!" I yell before leaving home. I climb in the passenger seat of Annie's Mini Cooper.

Annie will not shut up the whole way to her house. "This party is going to be amazing. Everyone is invited. I bet there are cute boys there, too. Remember how enormous Jackie's house is!"

I do remember how huge it was. Her house was a three-story, white modern house with balconies on every floor and a 100 acre backyard with a massive pool. The back yard is half woods; I will sometimes go out in the woods when I'm there and sit by a stream or in a small meadow. I have been there a few times for small friend get-togethers, but not for a huge party like this.

We pull into Annie's driveway and walk inside. She leads me up to her room and sits me down on the bed. She leaves me there while she digs through her walk-in closet. Annie comes out holding a few dresses and I cringe.

"Are you sure about a dress?" I complain while she hands the dresses to me.

"Yes! Now try them on!" Annie shoves me into her bathroom and shuts the door.

I reluctantly slip on one of them and walk out to her. She shakes her head in disapproval. This happened for a few more dresses.

In the new pile of dresses Annie gave me, there was one that stood out. It is a coral dress with a sweetheart that ended mid-thigh. I try it on a look in the mirror. It looks like someone just took fabric and wrapped it around me. There is one piece of fabric that hangs down on the side which just adds to its effect. The dress hugs my body, showing off my curves, but it was still a little loose. The dress is absolutely beautiful, but not me.

I open the bathroom door and walk out. "It's not me. I'm going to try on an-"

"Clove you look stunning." Annie sits there in awe of the dress.

"It looks like something Glimmer would wear." I mutter. Glimmer was the most popular girl in school and the biggest slut. All of the guys ogle at her and she has slept with at least half of them.

"No. Glimmer's dress would have more sparkles, just stop below her butt, and it would be WAY lower cut." We both laugh for a little before Annie continues on with my makeover. She pulls my French braid out and lets my hair flow around my head. "Beautiful."

"Does it really have to be down?"

"It's gorgeous!" She grabs her makeup bag and walks toward my face.

"No makeup!"

"Come on, it's a party." I sigh and let her apply makeup on me. After about five minutes of torture, she finishes on me. "Close your eyes." I close my eyes and I hear her walk across the room and come back. "Open."

I open my eyes to see myself staring at a mirror. I see that she applied my makeup beautifully. My eyes are a shimmery light pink and I have brown eyeliner lightly applied to my top lid; she even put on mascara. Annie had also applied pink lemonade colored lipstick on me and a little blush. "Wow." This is all I could stay as I stared at my transformed self.

"Okay, it's my turn now. You can just wait there." She points at her bed before going into the bathroom. I lay on my back for 20 minutes until she comes out. Annie is in a strapless, sea-green, chiffon dress that stopped at her knees. Her eyes were a light green and she had pink brown lipstick on. Her hair was curled and bounced with every step she took.

"You look amazing!" I stare at her in awe as she did with me.

"Shoes?" She hands me a pair of light pink, 6 inch high heels. "You need to look taller, Shorty," she stated as she put on her own pair of 4 inch cream heels. "Ready to go?" I look over at the clock on the wall. It was already 7:30. How did it get so late?

"Sure." Annie picks up her keys and walks with me to her car. The drive is silent and all I do is keep touching my hair. It feels weird hanging in front of my face. "Don't even think putting your hair up." I sigh and lean back in the car seat.

We pulled just outside of Jackie's house with a bunch of other cars. "I feel weird," I mumble, crossing my arms over my stomach.

"Don't be. Everyone else is dressed up." We walk up to her gigantic house and push through the front door. I can hear a live band playing music in the house somewhere. Then, I see Glimmer already making out with a guy.

She was wearing a bright pink dress that has a sequined top with a plunging neckline. The bottom of the dress looks like a tutu in the way it poufs out and stops just below her butt. "Whore alert," I mumble to Annie. She looks up and laughs, but continues on walking.

I notice everyone around me is talking to someone and look up when me and Annie walk by. I put my head down and try to ignore the stares.

"Ah! Clove! Annie!" Jackie runs to us and gives both of us a hug. "You guys look amazing!"

"You do, too, Foxy," Annie adds. Jackie was wearing a strappy, fire red dress. Her hair was up in a beautiful bun on her head. Frankly, she was hot.

"The band is letting anyone go up and sing a song if you want to try." _Heck no._ "We are also going to play some," she pauses, thinking for the correct word, "_fun _games later." She winked at us and slipped into the crowd.

"She's probably-" I looked for Annie, but she had disappeared. "Damn it!" How could I lose Annie?

"Clove." I freeze. All I can hear is the gruff voice of the man I used to love behind me. I can see his tall muscular figure in my memories holding a bat. It's the voice of the man who caused me pain. It's the voice of the man who cheated on me with my best friend.

I turned around and looked up into his grey eyes. He was wearing a button up shirt and slacks. His deep brown hair was messy and he glared down at me with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Hi, Gale," I whisper in a terrified manner.

**Congrats to all of you who guessed correctly! You get an internet high five. *high five***

**Note: Some characters ARE OOC, but I don't care. Sorry.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I hate school… BUT THEY OFFICIALLY CASTED FINNICK WOOP WOOP! My reaction:**

**Me: AHH OMG YES! THEY FINALLY CASTED FINNICK!**

**My family: Who the hell cares exactly?**

**My family doesn't understand the life of a fangirl… Now for the story!**

_"Hi, Gale," I whisper in a terrified manner._

"Aw, little Clovey is scared." He walks closer to me and grins at me deviously.

"What do you want?"

Gale softens his eyes. "I want to see you, Babe. I love you." He places a hand gently on my shoulder and smiles. I shake his hand off me and he mutters to himself, "Well, there goes that approach," before grabbing my wrist and shoving me towards the stairs.

I try to scream, but he covers my mouth with his hand. Gale shoves through the crowd with me being pushed in front of him. No one notices me being forced against my will. They all ignore me and carry on their conversations with a red plastic cup of alcohol in one of their hands.

Gale stops at one of the rooms and throws me in. I pull myself beside the dresser and prepare myself for whatever he tries to do to me. _Stay strong._

He closes the door and saunters over to me. He presses himself up against me and smiles. I shove him off me and his face twists into an angry expression.

"Gale, you cheated on me. We have been over for a long time. I don't want you." I yell. He obviously wasn't taking no for an answer.

"But I want you Clove." He reaches out for me and pushes me to the ground. My head hits the ground and I look up to see Gale above me.

"Help!" I shout, but it is most definitely pointless with how loud the music is playing and how drunk people are.

Gale kicks me in the stomach to get me to shut up. It feels like someone has just thrown a spear through my stomach and left me to die. I curl in a ball. I'm completely helpless. I start crying from both the pain and him. Does this man not know what he has done to me?

The bedroom door swings open and hits the wall. "Hey bastard." The voice is familiar, but I am too scared to look up to see who it is. I hear a few punches and grunts. Something sounds like it dropped to the floor heavily and everything went quiet.

"Clove it's okay," the person whispers next to me. They touch my forehead and gently move hair out of my face. "Clove, it's Marvel."

My eyes shoot open and see Marvel kneeling next to me and Gale knocked out on the floor behind him. I jump up and launch myself into a hug. My tears fall onto his shirt and he rubs my back soothingly.

"Thank you," I mumble into his chest between sobs. If he didn't get here when he did, things would have gotten a lot worse.

"He shouldn't be doing this to you." I pull my face away from Marvel's shirt and look up at him. "You are a strong girl. Look what he turned that into." He stood up from the floor and helped me up after. "I'll be out here waiting. You go get cleaned up."

I walk off to the bathroom and look at myself in the mirror. I look like a mess. My mascara is running, my eyes are puffy, and my hair is a disaster. I wipe of the running mascara and run a hand through my hair to fix it. I redo my eye makeup from what I find in the bathroom drawers and meet Marvel outside.

He's still there, lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Gale is still unconscious on the floor. Marvel sits up and smiles.

"Shall we go?" He stands up and offers his arm for me.

"We shall." I loop my arm in his and walk back downstairs.

We push through the crowds of people into the kitchen where I find Katniss, Madge, Annie, and Peeta. They all have drinks in their hands which is definitely alcohol.

"Clove! Where have you been?" I break off my arm from Marvel and walk over to hug Katniss. "Have you seen Foxface?"

When Jackie and Katniss first met each other, they absolutely hated each other. Katniss always called her 'Foxface' because of how she looks like a fox and Jackie called Katniss by her last name. After a few years, they became friends, but the names stayed.

Jackie runs into the room and squeals with joy. "Everdeen! Where've ya been?"

"I've been trying to find you." They embrace and they start talking with the rest of us.

I lean against the counter and look around the room. It's packed with tipsy teens flirting with one another. Some of them are making out, too. _Ugh, sick._ I look over at Marvel and he mouths "Are you okay?" and smiles. I nod and look around the room again.

I drone out their conversation and think to myself. I have probably not been listening for an hour when I hear commotion in the cramped hallway. I look over and freeze at the sight of who is causing the ruckus. "Move it," the gruff voice says. It's Gale pushing through the crowd toward the kitchen.

My face drains into a pale color and my mouth hangs open. Gale looks up and sees me in the kitchen; he growls and speeds up. _Shit. _Frantic, I run out of the room into the living area where the band is playing. I can hear Gale behind me.

I make it to the stage and step up. Am I really doing this?

"Do we have a volunteer?" A guy about 20 with dyed blond hair asks excitedly.

I gulp, "Yes." He hands me a microphone and I head to the front of the stage. "Hi, I'm Clove and this song is for Gale," I say happily. Gale stops shoving himself through the crowd and looks up at me. "Say hi to everyone Gale!" Gale scowls at me and I walk over to the guy and whisper into his ear. He smiles and starts the band off.

Almost everyone is looking at me. My group of friends are leaning out the kitchen and staring at me in shock. I dance around the stage a little and start singing.

_I remember when we broke up the first time_

_Saying, "This is it, I've had enough," 'cause like_

_We hadn't seen each other in a month_

_When you said you needed space. (What?)_

The crowd is into it. They are singing along with me. I smile and get in the groove of things. No one likes a nervous performer. Let loose, have fun.

_Then you come around again and say_

_"Baby, I miss you and I swear I'm gonna change, trust me."_

_Remember how that lasted for a day?_

_I say, "I hate you," we break up, you call me, "I love you."_

They like me. They laugh when I put personality into the song. This is fun.

_Oooh we called it off again last night_

_But oooh, this time I'm telling you, I'm telling you_

I walk to the left of the stage and point to Gale.

_We are never ever ever getting back together_

_We are never ever ever getting back together_

I gesture to some of the people around him.

_You go talk to your friends, _

I gesture to the rest of the crowd.

_talk to my friends, _

I point to myself.

_talk to me_

I run back to the middle of the stage and sing out to the crowd.

_But we are never ever ever ever getting back together_

_Like, ever..._

I laugh and look over to my friends. Marvel waves and the rest give thumbs up. I wave back and smile.

_I'm really gonna miss you picking fights_

_And me, falling for it screaming that I'm right_

_And you, would hide away and find your peace of mind_

_With some indie record that's much cooler than mine_

The crowd laughs at my dramatic statement.

_Oooh, you called me up again tonight_

_But oooh, this time I'm telling you, I'm telling you  
_

_We are never ever ever getting back together_

_We are never ever ever getting back together_

_You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me (talk to me)_

_But we are never ever ever ever getting back together_

Oooh yeah, oooh yeah, oooh yeah

_Oh oh oh  
_

_I used to think that we were forever ever_

_And I used to say, "Never say never..."_

_Huh, so he calls me up and he's like, "I still love you,"_

_And I'm like... "I just... I mean this is exhausting, you know, like,_

_We are never getting back together. Like, ever"_

No!

_We are never ever ever getting back together_

_We are never ever ever getting back together_

_You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me_

_But we are never ever ever ever getting back together_

We are not getting back together,

_We oh, not getting back together_

You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me (talk to me)

_But we are never ever ever ever getting back together._

The crowd bursts into a deafening applause. I shrug my shoulders at Gale and laugh a little. He storms away through the crowd and slams the front door behind him when he exits. "Thank you." I wave to everyone and scurry off stage.

The dyed blond guy runs after me and talks to me. "Holy shit! You are amazing." I blush and let a smile creep on my face.

"Thanks. Only one person has heard me sing before, so."

"Well you are absolutely fantastic." He smiles and walks back on stage to his band.

I squeeze myself through the crowd; I get stopped every few feet by someone I don't even know complimenting me. I keep moving until someone places a hand on my shoulder and turns me around. Cato was standing there with in a button down and jeans smiling.

"So can I tell people you are a really good singer now?"

"Well it's not much of a secret now, is it?" He laughs and pats me on the back.

"CLOVE!" Before I had time to react, Katniss, Madge, Annie, Jackie, Marvel, and Peeta attack me from behind and envelop me in a group hug. They all shout things at me at the same time.

"Oh my gosh I didn't know you sang."

"You were amazing!"

"Gale looked pissed!"

"You rocked it!"

"Everyone loved you."

"I don't think she can breathe." Everyone steps away and laughs. Everyone left to go back to the kitchen except for Marvel. We stood there for a minute before Marvel comes to me and gives me a friendly hug

He walks away and yells back to me, "You are awesome!" I stifle a laugh and turn around to leave the crowd when Jackie's voice rings out from the stage making me stop in my tracks.

"We will now start the games! We will start with 7 minutes in Heaven." A lot of hoots came from the crowd. Jackie was standing on stage holding two bowls filled to the brim with slips of paper. "Girls take from this bowl." She lifts the bowl in her left hand. "And boys take from this one." I turn around to walk away, but I hear Jackie talk into the microphone once again. "Clove Morrison you better play the game."

I sigh and walk to the stage and take a slip of paper. _This is going to be terrible. _

"Let's start with numbers 1 through 5." 10 people walk up on stage and get directed to rooms. _This is going to totally suck. _

Every 7 minutes, 10 more people would be called to the stage. I lean against the wall and clutch the piece of paper in my hand.

"25-30." 9 people walk up to the stage and stand there. Jackie is scanning the room. "We need a 28!" She looks throughout the room again before she shouts. "Everyone check your numbers."

I unfold my number for the first time and see a number printed in small black ink. _28. Shit. _I try to slip through the crowd unnoticed, but almost everyone sees. "Clove! Come on up here! You are paired with Cato!" _I hate everything._

"Ah fuck," I complain loudly. I drag myself to the stage and step up.

"Watch your language, missy," Jackie scolds in a sarcastically motherly tone. Everyone laughs at her comment and laughs at me when they see that I am the only one who isn't happy about making out with some random person.

As soon as I make my way over, Jackie drags us off and splits us off into assigned rooms.

Cato and I walk silently down the hall to the room. He opens the door and I hop onto the bed and lie on my back staring at the ceiling. Cato walks over and lies next to me.

"Don't you dare do anything to me or I will cut you." He scoots away from me and stares at the ceiling.

"Can we at least talk?"

"About what?" I snap. "About my life? All you want to do is learn everything about me and use it to get in my pants. I know your type. You are popular, muscular, attractive, can charm any girl, and only care about banging hot chicks." He seems shocked at my accusation. "I am NOT the girl you are looking for. If you want someone, go get Glimmer." Cato's mouth hangs open and he has a look of hurt in his eyes. I turn over and face away from him. I hate that I have to be here and I hate that I have to be with him.

"Clove, I just want to know what happened between you and Gale."

"See? You want to know everything about me so you can get in my pants."

"I never said I-"

"You were thinking it."

Cato places a hand on my shoulder and I shake it off. I jump off the bed and speed to the other side of the room.

"You want to know everything? Fine. I loved him. I loved him more than anything." Tears start to fall down my cheeks. "I wasn't careful." Cato runs over to me and hugs me. His tender embrace reminds me of how Gale used to hug me. Cato leads me back to the bed and sits me down.

"When he asked me out, I was ecstatic." I hug my knees and spill my heart out to him. "A hot, popular guy asked the shy girl out. Who wouldn't be happy? I believed everything he said. Every "I love you" was real to me. We were soon attached to each other. There was a lot of kissing in public. I got in trouble a lot more because we would sneak off during school. I was head over heels for him. I did everything he said. One day I went to my best friend Emily's house. We were going to a movie and I stopped by early. Her dad let me in and I went to her room. I opened her door and found her having sex with Gale. I left and got in my car, but Gale followed me and managed to get in the passenger seat. I jump out of my car when it was speeding down the road. That's how I got these." I lift my arms and show Cato the fading, white scars on my arms.

"The day after I caught him, he pinned me up against his car when I was walking to school. He said he loved me and couldn't bear to be without me. I told him to stop when he started touching me, but he punched me in the face, threw me on the ground, and kicked me in the stomach. Then, he called me a bitch." I cry harder.

"Clove, you are not a bitch." Cato wraps his arms around me and whispers in my ear. "Shh it's okay."

"Another day he came to my house when my mom wasn't home and beat me with a bat. He told me that we will always be together. I have tried to protest against it, but he just beats me. I couldn't stop him. Do you know how weak that made me feel? I felt so useless." I start sobbing into my knees.

Cato hugs me tighter. "Shh you are definitely not useless, Clove."

I lay my head on his chest and sit there for a minute. "Well, now you are one step closer to getting in my pants. Are you happy now?" I mumble. I roll off of him and walk to the bathroom. I slam the door shut and plop onto the floor. _Why did I break down like that?_

There's knocking at the door. "Clove, open up."

"No."

Cato groans on the other side of the door. I hear his footsteps and the bedroom door swing open and slam shut. He's gone.

I wipe off my makeup and wash my face in the sink quickly before heading back into the bedroom. The moment I open the door, someone swoops me up throws me onto the bed. I see Cato's blond hair flash in my eyesight before he lies on top of me. _Why do I always fall for this?_

"Cato!" I struggle under his weight and he just laughs.

The bedroom door swings open and Jackie enters the room. "Time's up- Oh. You two carry on." She winks at me and backs outs of the room before closing the door.

"JACKIE!"

Cato laughs again and rolls off me. "Aw someone's embarrassed."

"This never happened."

"What never happened, Clover?"

I wince at the nickname. "I never cried in front of you and don't you dare call me that ever again."

"Whatever you say Clover," he smirks.

I growl at him and storm out of the room. I make it down the hallway and find Annie drinking more alcohol.

"Annie, can we leave?" I ask her stubbornly. She twirls the alcohol in her cup and laughs.

"But why? I'm having so much fun!" Annie stumbles over her words. She usually isn't a drinker, so something is up.

I leave her for a minute to find Finn. I find him flirting with a group of pretty girls. "Finn. Here. Now." Finnick slides his way between the girls and follows me. I stop a distance away from Annie and point to her. Finnick connects the dots and walks over to Annie.

He scoops her up and walks with me out the front door. I find her car and I get inside. Finn places her down in the back. He is about to turn around and walk away when Annie grabs Finnick and smashes her lips into his.

Finnick has loved Annie forever. Annie was always hated it how Finn flirted with every girl that was near him. She always loved him even though she wouldn't admit it. I guess it's the drunk talking.

Annie pulls away and gazes into Finnick's sea green eyes. "I love you," she whispers.

Finnick is dumbfounded. He smiles like an idiot and whispers in reply. "I love you too, Annie."

"Are you two lovebirds done yet?" I complain loudly.

"Can Finnick come, too?" Annie asks enthusiastically. She's definitely drunk. Anything could happen if Finnick comes and stays over.

I shudder at the thought and sternly reply to Annie. "No. You're drunk and you will regret it in the morning."

"Do you not trust me?" Finnick gasps in sarcastic way. "I am offended!"

"Fine, but tomorrow I expect that my friend will still have her virginity and will not be pregnant."

"I agree to those terms," Finnick agrees and sits next to Annie in the back of the car.

"No nudity either."

"Fine then, Clove, take away all of our fun," Finnick pouts and crosses his arms. Annie giggles at him and blushes. She would totally not go for any of this sober.

* * *

We arrive back at Annie's house around midnight. Finnick and I lead drunken Annie into the house and lead her up to her room. Finnick walks in after her and shuts the door behind him.

I walk to the guest room next door and fall onto the bed. Thoughts about Cato flicker like a small fire. He just makes a reappearance every once in a while. He starts showing up more and more and, soon enough, he is spreading like wildfire and burning all other thoughts.

**Daww :3 So cute. What will happen in the Fannie relationship? Hmmm**

**Sooo I have a crap load of homework and that means it will take about a week maybe per chapter like in the summer… See in the summer that was because I was asleep for half the day, but now it's because of high school. So review and I will try to update as quick as I can and I am so so so sorry for not updating sooner… **

**Oh and one more thing, I absolutely LOVE all the reviews and I am so thankful for them. You make me feel so special and I absolutely want to punch myself for delaying this update. Love you guys :) See ya in a week amigos! (Yea I'm a Ludwig fan… HE'S MAKING AN ALBUM!)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! I finally update. I know I'm terrible. I have been busy with school, sports, and watching Detention a million times a week. Detention is amazing and you should all watch it because it is hilarious and Josh is in it. **

**If you haven't watched Detention: you may NOT have a skittle.**

**People who HAVE watched Detention: You see what I did there? Of course you do. You guys are awesome.**

**BTW: I fangirled for 3 hours over Detention with my friend today. Yep. And that's my life right now.**

**Okay now to the actual story.**

Annie POV:

Last night was all a blur. I vaguely remember Clove singing on stage, but after that, it's not coming back to me right now.

A sharp pain shoots through my forehead. It feels like someone is hammering on the inside of my skull. I moan in pain and roll over in bed.

I scream and fall out of my bed. Finnick. Finnick is in my bed sleeping shirtless; at least, he was sleeping until I screamed. He opens his eyes and ruffles his bronze hair and smiles at me. I pick myself up from the floor and sprint out my bedroom door to the guest room next to it.

I barge in and find Clove partially awake on the bed.

"What in the actual fuck happened last night?" Clove sits up straighter and hears the desperateness in my voice. She knows I need to know this badly.

"You got really drunk and you made out with Finnick."

"Ugh, what a douche. How could you let him kiss me? You know I hate him Clove!"

I hate Finnick with a fiery burning passion. He hits on every girl he can see. He's an okay person, but completely not my type. I don't want a flirt.

She laughs at me. "Oh no, Annie, you kissed him. And, after that, you begged me to take him back to your house."

"And you let me take him back here?" I'm horrified at what is happening. Me? Finnick? No, that will never happen. "I'm never drinking again."

"Well, I can't say 'no' to either of you. I didn't hear you guys doing anything last night, so I think you are okay."

"Oh yea, unfortunately, nothing else happened." Finnick stands at the door in his just his boxer shorts. I can't help but stare at his body. Damn he's hot. _ANNIE STOP! YOU DON'T LIKE HIM! _"So Annie," I focus my attention back on his god-like face. _What has gotten into me? _"So you still love me?" Finnick winks to me and strides over with a confident look on his face.

My heart is beating faster and faster until he was right in front of me. He leans in for a kiss and I push him away from me and run through the bedroom door. "In your dreams Finnick!"

I don't love Finnick. Or do I? I don't even know if I should believe myself anymore.

Clove POV:

I left when Finnick walked into the room. They need to be alone.

I quickly tell Annie that I just left and start walking home. _Of course I didn't drive over. _

It takes 1 hour for me to walk home from Annie's house. It's now 12:30 and I come up to my house and notice a parked convertible in the driveway. I swing the door open and throw my bag by the door.

"I'm home, Mom." I hear laughing coming from the kitchen. Usually, the house never has people over. I jog to the kitchen and peek in.

"Sweetie, your friend is here!" My mom hugs me and I see Cato sitting down at the dining table, drumming his fingers on the wood.

"What are you doing here Cato?" I cross my hands over my chest and stare him down. After what happened last night, I don't want to see him.

"I was wondering if you wanted to come and hang out today-"

"No." I turn around and speed away to the stairs.

"Clove, come on." Cato follows behind me.

I sprint up the stairs and open the door to my parent's room. Delilah dashes out of the room and jumps up at Cato. Cato falls down and Delilah steps onto him and growls.

"Clove Aubrey Morrison you did NOT just sick the dog on Cato!" My mom scolds me from downstairs. I look back at Cato and see that Delilah is gladly letting him pet and play with her.

"The fuck? Did you brainwash our dog?" I yell at Cato.

Delilah hates strangers in the house. It usually takes you a few dozen trips here before Delilah realizes that you aren't terrible and won't kill her.

"I guess your dog just likes me. I mean, who wouldn't?" Cato looks up at me and winks.

"You are just too full of yourself, aren't you?"

My mom walks up the stairs briskly and stops in front of Cato. "Oh, well, Delilah seems to really like you." She turns to me and frowns. "Go out and have some fun Clove. Don't have too much fun though." Mom passes me and walks down the hallway.

"But Mom-"

"No buts!" She closes her door and I turn back around. Cato smiles at me and pets Delilah who is comfortably lying next to him on her back. I scowl at him and I walk down the steps two at a time.

"Hey wait up." Cato jumps up and hops down the steps after me. Delilah barks and chases after him.

I stop at the bottom of the stairs and wait for him to make it down. Cato opens the front door for me and turns around to Delilah. He strokes her head and walks out after me.

Cato sprints to his convertible and holds open the passenger door.

"What a gentleman." I mumble. His car is really nice. The leather seats and were heated and it had there was not a speck of dirt or dust in sight. Cato slides into the driver's seat and starts the car.

Delilah is barking at us from the window. She gives me a sad look and whimpers. My mom stands beside her and waves to me. I pretend I don't see her and stare out my window. The houses pass by us and we turn down a few streets. The car is dead silent. Not one of us dares to speak.

"Where are you taking me?" I cross my arms and look at him for the first time this whole car ride. His eyes focus on the road, but, I swear, he glanced over at me for a quick second.

"On a walk." Cato parks the car and we step out. I recognize the area easily because I have been here so many times. We have stopped at the local park. Kids are playing on the playground and smiling and laughing.

Cato leads me behind the park to the trail entrance. The trails behind the park are hilly and very beautiful. I walk a couple steps behind Cato and shove my hands in the pockets of my sweatpants. _Shit, I didn't change. _I am wearing grey sweatpants and a striped green top with my hair in a bun. I most definitely looked terrible.

I can hear a stream down to the right of the trail off the path. I sprint past Cato and down off the path. I hear Cato behind me screaming at me, but I don't listen. I get to the small stream and hop from rock to rock across it. I can feel the water seep through the bottom of my sneakers. When I finish crossing the river, I turn to Cato, who is standing on a rock angrily.

"Clove! What the fuck?" Cato cautiously steps on each rock. His left foot slides off and plunges in the water. "Fuuuck." Cato looks up at me and frowns. He points his finger at me and yells, "This is your fault!" He leaps from each rock to the river bank.

I turn and run away into the trees. In no time, Cato is behind me, swinging me onto his shoulders. He hops back over the river and walks back on the trail. Cato doesn't seem to notice the looks we are getting.

"Can you put me down now?" I still lie limply across his shoulders.

"Are you going to run away again?" He starts to head up a small hill.

"Nope."

Cato swings me over his shoulder and sets me on the ground gently. As soon as my feet touch the dirt path, I took off.

"Just kidding!" I yell back at him.

I hear him curse and his footsteps coming closer and closer. My feet take me farther away from him until I reach the top.

The view is amazing. I could see over the entire city. Wind whistles between the tree branches and through the grass at my feet.

I walk over and sat down on an old wooden bench. I trace my fingers lightly against the edge of the seat and stare out at the view.

Cato slides on the other end of the bench and looks over to me. "Why do you keep running away?"

I don't look at him, but I shrug my shoulders. He turns and looks out at the view as I do. After a few minutes of silence, he slides his hand over to me and interlocks his hand with mine.

I jerk my hand away and storm away from the bench and down the hill.

"Clove, wait!" Cato calls out and trails behind me downhill.

"No I won't 'wait.'" I stop and turn to Cato. "I can't do this. I was literally forced here, Cato. I didn't come so you could hit on me, Asshole."

"Clove, I want you to understand-"

"Oh no, Cato, I understand." I walk forward and get in his face. "You are doing all these things just so I will go out with you, but you don't even love me. I'm just going to be used as arm candy. I will only be a toy for you to play with." My vision is starting to blur with my tears. "If you want a toy, go get Glimmer."

I whip around and sprint down the hill. There is a river of tears flowing down my cheeks. I can't stop myself from sobbing.

Even though my legs feel like they might collapse from under me, I keep running all the way to the car park. _Shit._ I scan the lines of cars and remember that Cato drove me here. I pull out my phone and call speed dial one.

I press the phone against my ear and try to calm my sobs before the person answers their phone.

"Hey it's Finnick." Finn's voice is soothing. "Leave a message and I'll call you back." _Fuck, voicemail._

I dial the next number that comes to mind.

"Hey Clove, what's up?" Marvel answers the phone on the second ring. _Thank god._

"Can y-you come pi-ick me u-up?" I look behind me for any signs of Cato. He's not there.

"Clove, are you okay? Where are you?" Marvel's voice suddenly got panicked.

"Park."

"I'm coming right now." I hear his car start on the other end of the line. "See you in a few."

"See ya." The line goes dead and I am left there with my phone still on my ear.

I sit down on the curb and place my head in my knees. _Why do I do this to myself?_ _I just don't want to get close to anyone like that. _

I hear thudding footsteps coming from the trail. "Clove!" I leap to my feet and scramble behind a car. I hear him stop and yell again, "Clove!"

_Quiet. _I slide further behind the car silently. He doesn't hear me. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. _No sudden movements._

Suddenly, my phone blasts _Move Along_ by The All-American Rejects on full volume. I take to my feet and sprint away from behind the car.

"Clove, wait!" Cato runs after me and yells, but I don't turn around. I run to the side of the road and see Marvel's car sitting idle.

Marvel steps out of the car and take in the scene. "Get in, Clove." He walks past me and heads straight towards Cato.

I slide into the passenger seat of his sleek Shelby 1967 Mustang. Out the window, I see Marvel and Cato arguing. Cato's fists are clenched to his sides and his face is red hot with anger. Marvel is in Cato's face. They are both at their breaking point. Someone is going to throw a punch.

I swing open the passenger door and storm over to them. Cato stops and stares at me as I approach. Marvel turns around and looks with him.

"You," I point to Cato, "Never ever hit on me again." I turn and face Marvel. "And you need to stop fighting for me. I can deal with my own fucking problems." I spin around on my heels and sprint away from them.

I turn down a few side streets and eventually lose my way. The sun has starting falling farther down in the sky. I groan and rub my temples.

"Lost, sweetheart?" The bitterness and sharpness of his voice freezes me in place. I drop my hands limply to my sides as a chill runs down my spine. I shudder and face the man behind me.

"Miss me?" A devious smile creeps across Gale's face as he steps toward me. _Fuck._

**Sorry for the cliffhanger and terrible chapter. I will try to update this weekend for you guys. Don't hold me to that promise though. Love you guys!**

**Oh and if you guys have any ideas for the story, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR THEM BECAUSE I HAVE WRITER'S BLOCK A LOT. K THANKS**


	9. Chapter 9

**Thanks for the ideas guys :) And I am not sure if I should move the rating to M. Tell me what y'all think.**

**Be prepared for flashbacks.**

I back up slightly as he holds out his arms to me. "Aw don't be scared." He stretches his arms out and wraps me in a forced hug. "It's so great to have you back babe."

My muscles tense and I try to push away from him. "I'm not your 'babe' Gale."

Gale steps back towards me and grasps my tiny wrist in his muscled hand. "You will be mine until I say so you won't be." He yanks me down the street towards a beat up green 1996 Subaru Outback. He opens the door and throws me onto the back seat. "If you leave, you die." Gale slams the door and makes his way to the front seat. He sits down and starts the car. The car jolts down the road at full speed.

I glance out the window and see a few people staring. _They can help. _I lunge for the window and press my face against it. I try to roll down the window, but it's locked.

"I'm not stupid, Clove," Gale chuckles. He hits the breaks and steps out of the car. We are parked in front of a brown split level home. I recognize it. It's his house.

He swings open the door and reaches for me. I push myself into the opposite corner from him. My body presses against the door and Gale groans.

"Stop being a bitch." He grabs my foot and drags me out of the car. Gale swings me over his shoulder and walks to the house.

He opens the door and drops me to the ground. I crash down on my back and glance into the living room. The same red sofa sits under the closed window.

* * *

_Gale sits next to me on the sofa. He has his left arm draped on around my shoulders and his feet propped up on the table while watches the game. My head rests on his chest and I look up at him._

_"What are you looking at?" He yells. I sit up and stare at him. _

_"You." I smile and peck him on the cheek. His hand whips around and slaps me in the face._

_"I'm watching the game dumbass." He pushes me into the coffee table angrily and scowls. "Just go away bitch."_

* * *

Gale forces me up from the floor and pushes me down the dark hallway. I stumble into the unlit kitchen and stare at the table.

* * *

_Gale sits across from me while we eat lunch. He stuffs the last slice of throat down his throat and leans back in his chair. I stand up and carry my empty cereal bowl to the kitchen side and place it in the sink. _

_"Ehem." Gale coughs and glares at me._

_"What?" He looks at me and scoffs._

_"Are you not even going to get my plate?" He picks up his plate and shakes it. Crumbs fall onto the tiled floors. "It's empty. I don't need it."_

_"You didn't ask me."_

_"You're useless." Gale chucks the plate at me. I duck and it hits the wall behind me. The plate shatters and the pieces fall to the floor._

* * *

"I never said you could stop walking." Gale pulls me back into the hallway and up the flight of stairs.

I place my hands on the railing and walk slowly up the carpeted stairs. I hold my breath as I reach the top. I stop and look at the wall across from me.

* * *

_I run up the stairs and turn around. Gale is screaming at me and heading up the stairs. _

_I push myself into the wall and just wait for the inevitable. _

_Gale stops at the stop of the stairs and yells down to me. "Clove you are so weak. You won't even put up a fight." He raises his fist and I cower. _

_His fist makes contact with my face and I yelp. Gale laughs and turns to walk down the staircase. He stops and turns back around. He throws an empty bottle from his hand at me. _

_The bottle shatters when it makes contact with my arm. Blood rushes out from the newly formed cuts on my body. He laughs and walks away._

* * *

"Move it!" Gales shoves me into the first bedroom on the left. He pushes the door open and I run to the other wall. It's obviously his room. I remember.

* * *

_"Come on Clove." Gale tugs at my shirt and smirks. "I know you want to." He runs his hand down my back and grabs my butt. _

_"Gale, no." I push his body away from me and cross my arms. Gale shoves me onto his bed and straddles himself on top of me. He reaches for the button of my pants and I push him again. "Stop!"_

_Gale throws his arms around my throat and chokes me. I can feel the lack of air getting to me. My hands grab at his and try to pull them away from my neck. He lifts me so my feet only barely graze the floor. _

_"Don't ever disobey me again," Gale growls and throws me to the ground. He walks out of the room, leaving me behind crumpled on the floor gasping for air._

* * *

"I'll be right back." Gale mumbles and slams his bedroom door. I cautiously pull out my phone and type a few numbers. I press the phone against my ear and wait impatiently.

"Hey Clove?" His voice sounds unsure. The way I pushed him away earlier might be part of it.

"Cato, help me," I whisper into the phone. My hand becomes shaky and I start to sob.

"Clove, calm down. Where are you? I will come get you."

"Gale's house." I sob and try to remember the street name. _I know this. I know this. _"Uh, I think it-it's Castro Road. There's a-a green Subaru Outback parked o-out front. It's a-a brown split level."

"I'll be there soon okay?" I take in a deep breath and hear Gale down the hall.

"Cato, I'm scared." My breath quickens and I listen closely. It sounds like he is rummaging through a room trying to find something. I hear something shatter followed by him swearing.

"Clove, hang in there. I'm on my way." Footsteps. I hear his footsteps coming closer.

"He's coming, Cato." I start to sob again. My body curls into a fetal position against the wall. Gale swings open the door and sees the phone in my hand. He runs over, grabs the phone, and chucks it across the room.

"Do you think that you can just get away with calling for help?" Gale punches me in my arm and leg. He grabs my hair and drags me across the room.

He pushes me into the corner and steps back. "Let's make this interesting. Let's list every word that describes little Clove." He smirks at me and starts listing.

"Useless." He punches my right eye and continues

"Idiotic." He claws at my left arm.

"Ugly." He kicks my thigh.

"Small." He kicks my stomach.

"Gale, please! Stop!" I sob and look up at him. There is no sign of him giving up.

"Weak." He punches my face twice.

"A bitch." He kicks at my shin. Gale is about to lunge at me again when he's interrupted by a crashing sound downstairs.

He storms out of the room cursing violently. I hobble over to his closet and bury myself behind the piles of his stuff. In the dim lighting, I can see the bruises starting to form on my skin. I graze my fingers over my eye and pull away from the pain.

The thudding of footsteps comes from the staircase. The person comes into the room. The floorboards creak and they get louder. The person stops in front of the closet door. I throw my head in my knees and hold my breath. They open the closet door and the light leaks in.

"Are you okay?" Cato whispers and reaches in the closet to me. I wrap my arms around his neck and let him lift me out of hiding. "Are you hurting badly?" Cato sets me down on the floor and looks and my bruises and wounds. "Answer me Clove."

"Yes." I let a tear fall down my cheek and I stare down at my hands.

Cato lifts me up and caries me out of the room. I place my head on his chest and close my eyes. I don't open them until we reach his car. He places me in the passenger and walks to the driver's side.

"Where do you want to go?" Cato starts the car and looks over to me.

"Anywhere but here." Cato drives down the street slowly. I start to think back on everything that just happened.

_I just let Gale abuse me. I didn't defend myself. I am weak. I am useless. He's right._

I pull my knees to my chest and sob again. All I could think of was the names Gale called me.

The car pulls over and stops on the side of the road. "Clove, you're safe. What's wrong?" Cato rubs my arm gently, avoiding the numerous bruises covering it.

"It happened again." I look up at Cato. "I let him hurt me again."

Cato hugs me and comforts me. "It's not your fault." He strokes my hair and looks down at me.

"It is my fault. I let him hurt me. I am weak."

"Stop being silly. You're not weak."

"I am, though. I didn't stop him."

"Even strong people have their bad times." Cato smiles down at me and pats my head. He reaches for my mouth and forms my frown into a smile. "Please smile."

I sit up and smile slightly at him. "Okay, we're getting there." Cato smiles back at me then turns the engine back on. "So, do you want to go home now or stop for ice cream?"

I give a slightly bigger smile to him. "Ice cream, please." He starts driving down the street again and turns to me.

"So you smile for ice cream, but not for me?" He smirks and shakes his head.

Cato pulls into the parking lot and parks right in front of the ice cream shop. I am about to get out when I notice a certain bronze-haired boy with a beautiful brunette. I slide my body down in the seat out of view.

"Cato," I whisper and point out of the window. He slides back into the driver's seat and closes the door.

"It's just Annie and Finnick, Clove."

"No, you don't understand." I slide further down in my seat and stare over at him. "My friends know about what Gale does, but they've never actually seen the damage. I always cover it up." I peek out the window and see Annie and Finnick still there at the table. "They would kill Gale, send me to the hospital, or call the police. They might even do more than one of those, Cato. That's why I called you today to come get me."

"Well, Gale does deserve to go to jail and rot in hell for what he has done to you, but I don't think hospital is necessary." Cato opens his car door and steps out. "I'll go get ice cream for you."

I can faintly hear Finnick and Annie outside from the slightly open window. "Who was he talking to? Someone has to be in there."

"Let's check it out. He's definitely hiding something." _Shit._

I slide onto the floor of the car and hug my knees. Hopefully, they won't come over here. If they saw Cato talking to the floor of his car, they would be curious. Heck, I would want to know what he was talking to if I were them.

Cato sits back down in the driver's seat and places the ice cream in the cup holder next to him. He doesn't acknowledge me until he drives out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

"Sit back up and put on your seat belt." I crawl back up onto the seat and buckle my seat belt. "They were suspicious. Finnick almost made it to my car." He hands me a chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. "Now eat."

I take my spoon and take a bite of it. The sweetness fills my mouth and cools my body. "Thanks," I whisper.

"It's just ice cream. No need to thank me," Cato laughs and stops at the red light.

"No, for coming to help me. You could have ignored that call because of what happened at the park. You could have been hurt by Gale, but you still came."

"Well, you needed help." The light turns green. "Now, where do you live?"

"Down here." I point at the upcoming street. Cato slows and turns down the street. He stops in front of my house and parks the car.

I get out of the passenger side and walk up to my front doorstep with Cato by my side. "My mom's going to freak." I push open the door and take one step inside.

"Clove!" My mom runs into my arms with tear filled eyes. "I was so worried." She takes a step back and looks at me. She sees the bruises and clenches her fist. My mom turns and shoves Cato against the wall. "Did you do this?"

"No! Mom, Cato didn't do this." She takes a few steps away from Cato. "It was Gale. Cato saved me."

"Oh thank you." My mom sobs and falls into his arms. Cato pats her on the back awkwardly.

"Mom, stop." I take her hand and drag her away from Cato's body.

"S-sorry." She looks back over to me. "Let's get you cleaned up. I'll be in the kitchen." My mom makes her way down the hall and turns around the corner out of sight.

"Well I should probably go." Cato backs up towards the door and half smiles at me. He rubs the back of his neck with his hand and waves at me with other. The door closes behind him and I sigh.

"You like him, don't you?" I twist my head around and see my mom leaning against the wall by the kitchen grinning at me.

"No I don't," I mumble and walk past her into the kitchen. She has set up her little healing station at the dining table as usual. I sit down in the chair and my mom sits in front of me.

She dabs a cloth in her "healing remedy" and dabs it on my eye. "He's very nice." She dabs more on my cheeks.

"You thought he hurt me."

"Well, I wasn't thinking straight. Tell him I say 'thank you.'" She runs the cloth over my arms.

"I think you made your point with the hug," I laugh. She scowls and runs the cloth over my legs. The house phone rings obnoxiously, forcing my mom to stand up and grab it."

"Hello, Morrison residence." She taps he manicured nails on the granite counter and stares at the cupboards. "Yes, here she is." My mom walks to me and hands the phone over.

"Hello?" I press the phone to my ear and my mom continues to treat my bruises.

"Hey it's Annie! I tried your cell phone and no one answered." _Shit. _My phone is lying broken on Gale's floor right now.

"Yea, my cell phone broke." My mom groans and rolls her eyes at me in frustration.

"Well I wanted to ask if you wanted to come to dinner with Katniss, Madge, and I."

"W-well, I don't think I want to go to dinner tonight. I-I'm super tired," I stutter into the phone. My mom shakes her head in disapproval and points to one of my bruises.

"You're coming and that's final. Wear a nice dress and I will pick you up in 30 minutes."

"But-" The other line goes dead and I drop the phone.

"30 minutes." I rest my head in my hands. My mom runs to the bathroom an grabs the makeup bag.

"Go get dressed while I set up." She dumps the contents out on the table and starts setting a few items aside.

I sprint up the stairs into my room and grab a white lace dress from its hanger. I slip it over my head and grab the pair of matching lace heels from under my bed.

My mom is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs with hair brush in hand. We walk back to the kitchen and she sits me down.

She ties my hair into a low bun and works on my makeup. First, she covers my face, then my arms, then my legs. Finally, my bruises are hidden from sight.

There is a slight knock on my front door, and I stand up to leave. "Bye mom." I kiss her cheek and walk to the door. I open it and see Annie, Katniss, and Madge smiling at me.

"Let's go!" Madge grabs my arm on my bruise and I wince. They all drag me out to the car. Hopefully, this night won't be too terrible.

**Kay so I didn't know how to end this chapter, so let's just end it here. It's 12:30 and I'm tired, so that's all for now. **

**Did you see Josh Hutcherson tweeted earlier? I fangirled even though the tweet only said "the pencil is red." I kind sorta burst into tears (don't judge). Love you guys**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey I feel so bad for not updating, but I have school, homework, fangirling, writers block, cats, etc… It has been so hard to write lately. I have the attention span of a dog- LOOK A SQUIRREL. So I will try to update again next weekend. Might not happen, but I will try.**

******Something Called Love will also be updated soon for all of y'all wondering :)**

**WARNING: This chapter isn't very good.**

* * *

Annie, Katniss, and Madge's constant chatter fills the car. I stare down at my hands and block out their conversations about boys, makeup, clothes, etc. The journey feels like it's taking forever, and the girls won't shut up.

"Hey, Clove, what's wrong?" Madge nudges me. The car instantly goes silent and I feel all eyes on me._ Quick, act happy. _

I smile and look over at Madge. "Nothing's wrong, why?"

"You seem sad. You haven't talked this whole ride. What's going on?" Everyone leans in, anticipating my answer.

"I guess I'm just tired."

"Oh okay." And just like that, they forgot about me and starting blabbing away again. I fiddled with my fingers until the car finally came to a halt.

"Where are we?" I step out of the car and realize where we were. We were parked outside of Jackie's. "Please don't tell me it's another party."

"It's a small get together Clove." Annie walks by me up towards the house. It doesn't like there are many cars parked out front.

"You said dinner, not party." I trudge up to the house behind Madge and Katniss. We walk through the house to the living room. There are about 10 people sitting on the couch laughing and talking together.

"Hey!" Jackie's smiling face bounds into view.

"Foxface!" Katniss runs up to Jackie and hugs her tightly. With Jackie distracted, I slip over to an empty chair in the corner of the room.

"Clove." Finnick smiles and hugs me warmly. I hold in my cries of pain as he squeezes some of my bruises accidentally. "Nice to see you." Finn sits down next to my chair and starts chatting with some other guy next to him.

"Uh, hi, Clove." Marvel half smiles in front of me. I smile warmly back and gesture for him to sit down.

"What's up, Marv?" I kick off my heels and stretch my legs out.

"You okay now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well you kind of just got really mad at Cato and me earlier. Are we cool? Are you and Cato cool?"

"Yea we are cool. Cato and I are cool."

"Good." I sit there and stare at the floor for a minute. I don't dare start another conversation. Marvel doesn't speak up either.

"Who wants to go for a swim?" Jackie stands up and screams. Everyone yells back and starts filing out the back door. Unlike the others, I stay frozen in my seat. _The makeup._

"Come on!" Madge scurries over and pulls at my arm.

"No thanks." I stand my ground and force all my weight against her.

"At least come outside." She yanks my arm and drags me outside on the deck.

I slide against the wall as far away from the pool as possible. People are jumping in fully clothed and floating around in the pool carefree.

"Come on Clove! The water's fine!" Finn shouts from the steps of the pool closest to me.

"No, I'm good." Finn steps out of the pool and into a crowd of people surrounding it.

Most of the people have cleared out of the pool now. I am the only one who didn't go in.

I stare out beyond the pool out into the woodsy area of Jackie's back yard. It's absolutely beautiful. The moonlight hits the leaves of the trees in such a magnificent way. If only cameras could capture that kind of magic.

Something grasps me around my arm and yanks me toward the pool. Something else grabs my other arm. Two more things grab my legs and lift me up so I am no longer in contact with the ground.

"Put me down!" I squirm in their grasp and try to escape.

"It's for your own good."

"You need to stop being a party pooper."

It's Annie, Madge, Katniss, and Finn, and their intentions are pretty clear. I'm going in the water if I like it or not.

"Please, no!" My eyes start to fog up and I panic. I can't get out of this.

"Sorry, Clove. It's for your own good." With that, I am thrown into the air. That freefall is a second of horror. _They are going to see the bruises._

My head submerges into the water and I can hear the muffled sound of cheers coming from the surface. _It's time. You can't hide it anymore Clove._ I stand up in the pool and wipe the water off my face.

Everything suddenly goes silent. I can feel everyone's eyes carefully placed on me and my bruised body. I look up to my friends who are staring at me in horror. I can see Finnick mouth 'Oh my god' and struggle to find words.

"Happy now? I'm in the water." Tears streak down my uncovered face. I swim to the poll stairs closest to the grass and take off. I run straight out into the forest with only my water-drenched dress weighing me down. People are calling my name over and over, but nothing gets through to me.

The forest suddenly clears into a large meadow with a stream that flows straight through the middle. I walk over and sit at the edge, dipping my toes in the freezing cold water. I hug my knees and stare at the reflection of the moon in the water.

The feeling of warmth breaks through the crisp night air. Finn stands behind me with his arms wrapped around my torso.

"I couldn't believe it was this bad." Finnick sits next to me. I lean my head on his shoulder and he wraps his arm around me in return. "Why didn't you tell me?" His voice was soft, but filled with anger.

"I didn't want you guys to know it was this bad. Annie would have a mental breakdown and take me to the hospital, and you would kill Gale and call the cops."

Finnick lies down on the ground and stares up at the sky. "But that's what he deserves Clove-"

"No Finn, I can deal with it." Finn picks up a medium-sized, muddy rock and chucks it across the field. "You never even cared until you saw the bruises," I mumble under my breath.

"You think I didn't care? Did you think I wouldn't care that my best friend was being hurt?" Finnick grasps my shoulders and faces me towards him. His green eyes pierce into mine with not anger, but sadness. "I couldn't stand the thought of it." Finnick hugs me and whispers into my hair, "I was scared that if I beat him up, he would take it out on you even more."

I fall backwards into the plush green grass and stare at the stars. Finn lies next to me and squeezes my hand in his. We stay motionless like rocks for a few minutes. "Finn?" I whisper and turn my head towards his and he's looking back at me softly. "I want to go home."

"Sure, let's go." He helps me onto my feet and we walk back to the house in silence.

The moon casts eerie shadows on the forest floor through the tree branches that hang above us. A few owls hoot and crickets chirp constantly on the walk back. The trees part and I can see Jackie's house in the distance. A figure heads toward us from the house. Unfortunately, it's Annie.

"Oh my god, are you okay? Do you need medical help? I can drive you to the hospital. Let's go!" She frantically pulls at my hand and drags me up the hill.

"Annie, stop." Finnick takes my hand away from Annie's hold. "I'm taking her home." He smiles at Annie and turns away. Even with only the dim moonlight, I can see a blush form on her cheeks.

I avoid the stares I get from everyone at the house. Every single person is silent as I walk past them. A few whisper to each other after I pass them.

"God she looks terrible," one says.

"Did she ever look good?" the other one softly laughs. A girl. It was a girl.

We finally get to Finn's car. I slide in the passenger seat and rub my arm awkwardly. He drives away from the house and speeds down the streets lined with perfect houses.

If a tornado hit one of the houses and tore it down, everyone would call it imperfect, ugly, but it can just be rebuilt. Everyone would think of it as the house that was torn down by a tornado, not the pretty house it was rebuilt to be. It will only be remembered for its history. I am just the girl whose ex beat her.

"Clove, are you okay?" I look over at him. He's looking between the road and me with a sad look on his face. I am crying.

I wipe my eyes and sigh. "I will only ever be the ugly girl whose ex beat her, Finn. Nothing more." Finnick reaches out and stokes my hand.

"No no no Clove, what gave you that idea? And you're not ugly, you are beautiful. Stop thinking these things." I think back to when Gale called me all those names. _Was he telling the truth?_

"There w-were people at th-the party a-and they said s-so."

"They might have sight problems because they are fucking idiots." Finn pulls outside of my house. He turns towards me and frowns. "Don't listen when someone says anything bad about you like that ever. Got it?" I nod and step out of the car.

I reach for the front door handle when it swings open away from me. "Clove!" My mother hugs me and helps me inside. I wave goodbye to Finnick just as my mom closes the door. "What happened?"

"I was thrown into a pool," I mumble.

"Who saw you like this?"

"Everyone there." We walk up the stairs to my room. I collapse on my bed and stare at the ceiling fan.

My mom walks over with a large Pizza My Heart t-shirt and lime green cotton shorts. "Are you okay with everyone seeing it? How was Finnick?"

"No, but I can't undo what they saw." I pause and rub the t-shirt fabric between my fingers. "I had to calm Finn down, but he's still pissed."

Mom walks over and kisses my forehead. "I'm here for you." She leaves my room and closes my door. I slip on the shirt and shorts and curl up under the covers, instantly drifting off to sleep.

**OH MY LUDWIG 10 CHAPTERS! Thank you all for your support in this story. It means so so so much to me. Even when I don't post for 2 weeks sometimes you are still there for me and still into the story. I LOVE ALL OF YOU SO MUCH! Just so you guys know, I have more fanfics ideas, but I am not going to start it until I am farther along with both of my fanfics. All in all, 10th chapter, I love you guys, and more fanfics later. LOVE YA  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**Please don't kill me. I have had such a hard time writing, but I think I have found some inspiration. **

**Warning: It might be hard for some readers to read this because of personal experiences they have had that relate to this. **

A knocking comes from the front door. _Who the hell knocks on a door at 6:00AM?_

My mom left at 4:00 this morning because she is going to Texas for a few days. If this is a murderer, I won't be found for days. _Well aren't I screwed? _

I open the door and rub my eyes sleepily. Annie stands before me smiling with a plate of cookies. "Sorry about last night." She sheepishly hands over the plate and looks at her shoes. "Are you mad at me?"

"I could never stay mad at you." I lean in and hug her tightly. "Come in." I close the door behind her and walk over to the couch. "Why are you up this early anyway?" I yawn and plop down onto the plush couch.

Annie sits next to me and sighs. "I don't know. I was just up."

I shove a cookie in my mouth and hand one to Annie. She smiles and takes tiny bites of it. "You are too polite," I say through the food in my mouth.

"Well, let's watch a movie." Annie stands up and walks over to our movie collection. She scans the rows and picks one out. She puts the DVD in and walks back to the couch. The beginning title credits of Forrest Gump roll onto the screen.

Every time something cute happens between Forrest and Jenny, she goes. "Aww." Annie also knows this movie by heart, as do I.

About halfway through the movie, Annie stands up. "I'm going to go make popcorn." Annie slips out into the kitchen.

My new cell phone rings on the coffee table. The number is blocked.

"Hello?" I tap my fingers on the edge of the couch and swing my feet on the magazine pile.

"You deserved it." The girl's voice on the other line is deadly, piercing my ear.

"Excuse me?" I sit up straight and stare at the opposite wall.

"You deserved to be hurt by Gale. You are just a worthless, ugly, fat, skank. If only bruises lasted forever so you would always be reminded of how terrible you are. I don't even know why he went out with you in the first place; you don't even deserve to be with a hermit. Just go die. The world will be prettier then. Fatass hoe." The line goes dead. My hand just goes numb, letting my phone slip from my fingers.

Annie walks down the hallway to the front door. She doesn't look up from her phone. "Hey, sorry, I have to leave now. See you later Babe!" The front door shuts behind her and I am left alone.

What if the girl who called was right? What if I am useless, ugly, a skank, worthless?

I drag myself from the couch into the kitchen. The popcorn Annie was making is sitting in the microwave untouched.

I turn my head and see the kitchen knives. Each one has been sharpened recently and is bow sitting in the wooden knife block. I reach my trembling hand out and grab a small carving knife. My finger lightly runs along the edge of it.

I grasp the knife firmly in my hand and walk upstairs to my bathroom. I slide down the wall and stare at myself in the mirror. The bruises scattered on my skin have faded a little from their deep purple, but are still very dark and noticeable.

Wait, I take the knife and place it on my left wrist. _Wait. _I pull the knife away and breathe. Finn said not to listen to them, but I can't take it anymore. The names. The looks. I. Can't. Take. It. The knife finds its way to my wrist again and slices. The cut stings my skin, but eventually numbs itself. My blood is dripping to the floor and creating a puddle.

I burst into uncontrollable sobs. I take the knife and slice at my wrist. I can't hear anything over my sobs, even my front door.

I put my head in my knees and cry. I just want everything to end. Every sorrow I have felt, I want to end.

"Clove." The concerned voice echoes in my head over and over. The person places their hands on my shoulders gently. "Oh Clove." I lift my head slightly and see Cato frowning. He slips his hand into mine and takes the knife.

Cato stands up and rummages through my medicine cupboard. He sets a few things down on the side and reaches for my hand. He helps me up and runs my wrist under the water.

Cato dabs at the cuts with an antiseptic drenched cotton ball. I wince and jerk my arm away. "Clove, trust me." He takes my hand again and quickly runs the cotton ball over my wounds once more.

I sit there patiently as he bandages my wrist. "Why, Clove?" His voice is just barely there. He is hurt.

"I'm sorry," I choke. Cato lifts me up and carries me downstairs. The whole time, I mumble "sorry" into his chest and cry.

"Shh, I know." Cato sets me down on the couch gently. "Just don't do it again, okay?"

I nod and curl into a ball on the couch. "Why'd you do it?" Cato gently strokes my hair and waits patiently for an answer.

My cell phone rings from the coffee table. I reach out a shaky hand and grab it warily. Blocked number. _It's them. _I throw the phone across the room and let it crash against the wall. My phone breaks apart and falls to the ground with a thud. My body shakes violently and I start to sob.

"No, shh, you're okay." Cato lifts my fragile, shaking body into his lap. "You're okay." His body rocks back and forth, calming me. "What's wrong?"

"Th-The girls called me-e." I wipe the currently falling tears off my face and avoid eye contact with Cato as I speak.

"What did they say?" Cato drapes his arms around my waist and hugs me.

"I don't want to talk about it," I mumble. Cato lifts me up and carries me down the hall. "Put me dooown." Even though I want him to let me go, I do nothing about it.

He places me on the kitchen counter and opens the fridge. "Catoooo, why did you take me here?" I lie down on my counter and look at him over my shoulder. He digs through the shelves and pulls out a few ingredients.

"Well, I thought that I would make you lunch." Cato smiles at me and gets plates out.

"I'm not hungry," I moan.

Cato throws a green grape at me. "No complaining! You will eat."

"What are you making exactly?" I stare questioningly at the array of foods placed on the kitchen side.

"I don't know. I can't cook." I groan and roll off the kitchen side. I turn the stove on and start to heat up a pan.

"I guess I will have to show you sometime." I take the eggs from the side and scramble them in a bowl. While the pan heats up, I put everything Cato took out away.

"I'm going to pick a movie." Cato smiles and walks to the living room.

"I already watched a movie today!" I moan and pour the egg into the pan. I stir it around and wait for Cato to come back in the kitchen.

When the eggs are done, I dish them onto plates. My plate has about a spoonful of eggs and Cato has the rest.

Balancing two plates in my hands, I make my way to the living room. Cato, to my surprise, wasn't in the living room. I set the plates on the coffee table gently and look around.

"Cato?" I cautiously tiptoe toward the staircase. The sound of muffled voices comes from up the stairs. I skip up the stairs toward his voice. I stop in front of the door and lean my ear against the door.

"No I can't come over- It's important- I don't care, I can't come- Maybe another time." I slide back down the stairs and sit on the couch casually.

Cato trudges down the stairs and drops down beside me. He grabs his plate and takes a bite before glaring at me. "Are you serious? Have some of my food." He scrapes some of his eggs onto my plate.

"I'm not hungry." I cross my arms over my chest and pout.

"I don't care, you are eating." Cato shovels the egg onto my fork and shoves it in my mouth. "See? It wasn't that hard." I swallow and stick my tongue out at him.

"Now it's time for the movie." Cato presses play on the TV leans back into the couch.

"How'd you know?" I squeal and hug one of my knees.

"Know what?" Cato laughs and turns back toward the screen.

"That the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are my favorite." I focus my attention back towards the TV. I pull my knees close to my chest and smile. To only think that not even an hour ago, I wasn't even close to being happy with anything in life.

My hand runs along the edge of the bandage wrapping the other wrist. Cato grabs my hand and whispers to me softly. "Stop thinking about it Clove." He drops his hand and returns to where he was before.

The problem was I couldn't stop thinking about it. What if Cato didn't show up? Would I have stopped eventually or would I have kept cutting and bled to death? What if no one cares about me? What if the girls call again?

During the movie, I feel Cato throw some glances my way, but I ignore him. About halfway through the film, my I start to feel tired mentally and physically, and before I could do anything about it, my eyes close shut and I fall onto Cato's shoulder.

* * *

_I'm sitting on the hardwood floor in the middle of a large empty room. The wood is cold against my feet as I stand up._

_I turn in a complete circle and stop abruptly. A beautiful grand piano has appeared in the corner of the room. I run my hand over the smooth finish and place myself on the bench. My fingers hover over the keys. I breathe and press my right index finger down._

_My breath is sucked away from me ass I'm punched in the stomach. "Fatass." It was the girl's voice from the phone swirling around in my head. There is no one in the room except for me. _

_I press down another finger. Another blow, but this time to my leg. "Whore."I have this impulse to keep pressing down the keys even though I know the consequences. _

_I press down my fingers every time the girl finishes her word. _

_"Ugly."_

_"Useless."_

_"Garbage."_

_I keep pressing the keys and listening to her. I can't stop. More words of hers bounce around in my head. My breathing becomes heavier and the room starts to spin._

_"Clove." The voice is distant and deeper than the girls. It has a soft tone to it; it's sort of soothing. "Clove."_

"Clove." My eyes sleepily open to Cato above me. I had fallen asleep in his lap.

* * *

"Ugh I'm sorry." I move myself off of him. "I didn't mean to fall asleep let alone sleep on you."

"No it's fine. It didn't bother me, but you were having a bad dream." My eyes avoid direct contact from his. "Clove, now I know something's wrong because you won't look at me."

"Everything's fine, Cato." I stand up to leave when Cato grabs my hand. He twists me back towards him and sits me down next to him.

"No it's not, Clove. Please don't lie to me." The way Cato spoke just gets to me. I can't handle it any more. Just all of it bottled inside me it was bound to break sooner or later. And it does.

Tears begin to flow down my cheeks in heavy streams. "Why did they say it Cato?" I pull my knees up towards me and breathe heavily. "Why did they say those things? What did I ever do to them?"

Cato hugs me and presses me against his chest. "I don't know, Clove. I don't know." His hands run through my hair gently. "Whatever they said isn't true, okay?"

"What if it is? What if it's all true?"

"It's not. I promise." He squeezes my hand lightly and continues to run his hand through my hair.

Once my tears run out, I sit up and break away from Cato. "You should go."

"No, I need to make sure you are okay."

"I'll be fine."

Cato laughs slightly. "I highly doubt that. I'm staying." I scowl at him and grab my phone from the other side of the room before stomping up the stairs.

My bedroom door swings open and I throw myself onto the bed. Who does he think he is? It's my house. I reach for my phone and dial for Katniss.

"Hey Clove, what's up?"

"Well, Katniss, I'm being anonymously bullied, my life sucks, my arm hurts, oh and Cato is refusing to leave my house." I watch my ceiling fan spin around above my head.

"Oh baby I'm coming over." The line goes silent and I drop the phone next to me and wait for my savior.

I swiftly turn my head to the soft pounding on my door frame. Cato smiles softly and sticks his hands into his worn out jean pockets. "Can I come in?" I nod and sit up in my bed. He takes small and slow footsteps before stopping in front of me. "So you called Katniss, huh?"

"Yea." I look away from him and bite my lip. "Did you hear what I said?" I can see Cato nod in the corner of my eye.

"I didn't mean to. I came up to apologize. The only reason I'm staying is to make sure you're okay." Cato sits himself next to me and mumbles under his breath, "But, I guess you're not."

"Of course I'm not okay, Cato." I swing my bandaged left arm up and shake it in his face before exiting the room.

"Clove." Cato speeds up behind me and spins me back around towards him. "I know you aren't okay, but I want you to be. I want this all to be over. You don't deserve this." His muscled arms envelop me in a hug.

The front door opens swiftly and in strides Katniss. "Hey Clove I- Oh, am I interrupting something?" She stops abruptly at the bottom of the staircase. I shove my way out of Cato's grasp and spring down the staircase two steps at a time.

"No you weren't." Katniss winks and nudges my shoulder with her elbow.

Katniss' eyes go wide at the sight of my wrist. "Oh my gosh Clove!" Her eyes glance from my arm to my emotionless face. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Nothing important," I snap and jerk my hand away from her. "Why does everyone care so much about me? I'm just a lost cause."

**So I had trouble finding a place to end this chapter, but I feel like this isn't the worst place to stop it. If you have any future suggestions for the story, feel free to tell me. :) **

**I'm sorry about this chapter and the whole cutting situation. I promise this will be the last of it.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey thanks for waiting an extra week for an update. I'm finding it hard for me to write and update both stories with all of my school work, so I will most likely update less often. Sorry :(**

_"Why does everyone care so much about me? I'm just a lost cause."_

I spin on my heels and run down the hallway. My vision is becoming hazier every step I take. I just need to get away. I just need to get away.

My foot slips on the smooth surface of the hardwood flooring and I crash to the floor. My hair is draped over my face as I sob into my hands. I'm a mess.

A hand softly touches my arm. "Baby," Katniss whispers soothingly into my ear, "You're not a lost cause."

"I am. I am," I mumble into my hair.

Suddenly from down the hall, Cato bellows, "Release the beast!" I hear a door fly open and the skittering of claws on the floor. The noise becomes increasingly closer until Katniss and I are pummeled by Delilah at full speed. She attacks us with slobbery kisses and pounces at our feet.

"Cato!" Katniss yells and pushes Delilah away from her face. "What the hell?" Warm arms push under my body and lift me off the floor. "Put her down Cato."

"Whatever you say Mom," Cato mocks. I try to hide my giggle and small grin. "I heard that."

Cato sets me down on the right end of the couch and covers me in a warm blanket. He sits by my feet and stretches his arm behind his head. I watch as his muscles flex and bulge with every motion he takes under his tight shirt.

"Clove, stop staring," Katniss scolds and sits on the sofa chair in the corner. I feel heat rush to my cheeks and I send a glare Katniss' way. Cato doubles over in laughter and struggles to catch his breath.

"I wasn't staring!" I take a grab the throw pillow next to me that peacefully decorated the sofa and chuck it at her head.

Katniss dodges the pillow and throws her hands up in defeat. "Whatever you say, Clove." Delilah jumps onto the couch and paws at my feet.

I pet her silky fur. She lies on my legs and barks happily. "No, off," I groan.

Cato pats his thighs and whistles. "Come here girl." Delilah perks her ears up and leaps onto Cato's lap. She stares his down and barks loudly in his face before curling up on the left side of his body.

I drag the blanket up to my neck and close my eyes. It isn't long before I drift off to sleep.

* * *

_My feet pound against the forest floor and my heart thuds loudly in my chest waiting to burst out. I turn my head around quickly to make sure he isn't following me, but he is. I know it. I zip between the Redwood trees and hurdle over moss-covered rocks in order to escape. My converse shoe catches on a tree root and forces me to crash to the ground with a thud. Maniacal laughter erupts from above me. I open my eyes only to see Gale clutching a knife above my face and plunging it down towards me._

* * *

I wake with a start and shoot upright. My breathing slows and I check the time on the clock. _12:30 AM._ I scan the room and see Katniss collapsed and snoring in the sofa chair. My eyes settle on the figure of Cato a few feet away from me. His body is sprawled out and face down with one hand dangling off the couch.

I need to be alone. _Maybe if I'm really quiet, I can get upstairs to my room. _I slip silently off the couch and stand up without making a noise. I begin to sneak past Cato when something wraps around my calf. I gasp and stare down at my calf which is in the grasp of Cato's once dangling arm.

"Did you really think I would be asleep?" I nod and cover my mouth. "Who can sleep when someone is snoring like that?" He makes a large arm gesture to Katniss. "Where are you going?" Cato raises himself into a sitting position and runs a hand through his hair.

"To my bed." I walk past him and jump up the stairs towards my slightly pushed open door. I hop onto my bed and snuggle under the covers.

Cato bursts through the door dragging blankets behind him and sets them beside my bed on the floor.

"What are you doing?" I complain and throw my head into the pillow.

"Well, I need to watch over you." Cato crawls under the thin blanket he laid out on my floor. He looks up at me and smiles.

"Come on, don't sleep on the floor."

Cato shrugs and winks. "Well if you insist." He pushes off the floor and leaps on top of me.

"Cato!" I struggle beneath his weight. "I didn't mean on me." Cato rolls off me and laughs quietly.

Cato tucks the blanket close up to my neck and pats my head. "I'm fine on the floor." He softly brushes his lips against my forehead before lying next to my bed, curled up on the floor.

"Thank you," I whisper down to him.

"You're welcome."

* * *

My eyes shoot open at the sound of yelling. Not playful, joking yelling, but vicious, fight yelling.

I throw the covers off me in a swift motion and look down. The blankets were gone and my door is ajar with light seeping in. I take tiny steps toward the opening and peek my head out slightly.

My eyes go wide in shock. It's Cato and Finnick shouting at each other. Cato looks as if he's about to throw a punch. Before I can think my plan over, I bolt down the stairs and scream, "Stop it!"

Finnick and Cato both stop and watch me sprint down the steps. "Stay out of this Clove," Finn commands before turning back to Cato.

"No, I'm not going to 'Stay out of it.'" I push his arm slightly and stand my ground. "What is even going on?"

"Well," Cato speaks, "He was just telling me how I should leave you alone and Katniss shouldn't have let me stay."

Finnick balls his fists at his sides and glares at Cato. "It's true."

"But, if it wasn't for me, Clove would most likely be in the hospital," Cato spits. Finnick's expression drops and his face goes pale as if he saw a ghost.

"Clove," he whispers hoarsely, "What does he mean?" He turns to me and stares at me softly with his hurt-filled eyes.

"Did you not tell him?" I shake my head and stare at the floor. "I'll just leave you two alone." I hear Cato's footsteps fade away down the hall.

"Clove," Finn whispers, "Tell me." He grabs my hand and leads me to the couch. I sit down next to him and hold back the stinging tears that are welling up in my eyes.

"I'm sorry." Barely any sound comes out of me as I hold out my wrist. Finn studies it and kisses it gently. "Cato found me before I suffered from blood loss." Finnick rubs his temples and sighs. "I'm so sorry," I choke. Tears flow down my face and I hide my head in my hands.

I feel his warm hand rub my back and pull me into his chest. "Are you okay now?" I lift my head off his tear-stained t-shirt and stare out at the wall.

I never really thought about it until now. Am I okay? Do I still hate myself? Is it over? "I don't know," I whisper and stare into the space in front of me.

Finnick stands up from the couch and crouches in front of me. "I'm going to make you lunch okay? Shout if you need me." He pats my back and wanders into the kitchen.

The question bounces off the inside of my brain over and over again. _Am I okay? _

No. I'm not okay. People don't understand what I'm going through. They don't understand my pain. But people will understand. If I'm dead.

I manage to pull myself off the couch to the stairs. _This is the last time I will walk on these stairs. _I take each step slowly and silently. I walk into the bathroom and notice the floor. Clean. Spotless. I rummage through the cabinets furiously as tears well up in my eyes. I grab a bottle of Aspirin and clutch it in my shaking hand.

My hand reaches for the lid and unscrews it. _They don't understand. _I throw the lid across the room and dump some of the bottles contents onto my sweaty palm. _They will understand soon. _I raise my palm in front of my face and stare. _Soon. _

Finnick POV:

I grab a Campbell's Soup can from the cabinet and pour the liquidy chicken noodle soup into a pan. Even though I'm here, my mind is far away. All I think of is Clove. She's so strong. What happened?

I worry too much. I bet she will be fine. Cato sets down the newspaper and looks over at me. "So am I forgiven for coming into the house and saving Clove?" God he's so cocky. I don't get what girls see in him. Oh yea, they think he's "hot."

"Yes, fine." I sigh and stir the soup around in the pot. I push the chicken from side to side and yell to Clove, "Only a few more minutes. Do you want bread?" Silence. Silence is never good when it comes to Clove.

I drop the spoon and run to the doorway looking into the living room. Empty. Clove's gone. "Shit." I sprint for the staircase and fumble my way up. Cato catches up behind me and runs to her room. I head straight down the hall where I know she goes when she wants to be alone, the bathroom.

I kick open the door and see Clove slouched against the counter raising her palm filled with pills shakily to her dry lips. My body lunges forward and knocks the pills out of her hand and into the sink. I wrap my arms around her body and hug her tight. I almost lost my best friend.

Clove POV:

Finn lift's me up and carries me down the hallway to my room. My arms are bound tight around his neck and my head is resting on his shoulder. He sets me down on the bed and sits on the edge stroking my hair.

"I want it all to be over," I whisper. Tears threaten to fall down my cheeks as I stare at the wall.

Finnick nods in agreement. "Don't we all?" I look over at him and he strokes my face. "Sometimes things don't seem to go our way and we think our lives are pointless, but if we die, we won't know what would happen in our lives." Finn smiles at me weakly. "Don't leave, Clove."

The tears break free and roll down my face. Finn leans over me and lightly kisses my forehead. "Get some rest."

"But I just woke up."

"You need a nap, sweetie." He pushes himself off my bed and walks out of my room, slightly closing the door.

"Hey, how is she?" Cato whispers outside my room.

"I don't know, but she tried swallowing pills," Finn replies in a hushed voice.

My bedroom door swings open and hits the wall with a smash. "Fuck, Clove, what are we going to do with you?" Cato storms over to my bedside.

"Cato," Finn warns. He stands leaned up against the door frame with his arms crossed across his body.

Cato drags a chair over from my desk and places it next to my bed. "I'm not leaving you because you're going to do something stupid again." I roll my eyes and groan loudly. "I'm serious, Clove. I'm not leaving you."

"Cato, leave." Finnick points to the open door and huffs in annoyance. "She doesn't want you here." Cato looks over at me and pouts.

"Sorry, I can't sleep with people watching me." I swing my legs out from under my covers and walk to my dresser. I pull out pajama shorts and a tank top before walking back to my bed. "Can you guys leave so I can change and sleep?"

Finn and Cato share a glance at each other before leaving the room and closing the door. _Finally, peace and quiet. _I slip into my shorts and tank top before jumping onto my bed and falling asleep wrapped in my covers.

**Thanks so much for all the love I get from you all about my fanfic. It means so much to me! I know I say this like every chapter, but it's true.**

**So I wanted to know, for future reference, what kind of couple do you want in the next story I write (which will be in a while). BUT IF SOMEONE SUGGESTS GLATO OR GALENISS I WILL PUT WEEPING ANGELS IN YOUR CLOSET WHILE YOU SLEEP.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Yea sorry about saying I would stop the whole self harm thing, but I just needed to not end it so suddenly. So, I think this is it for now… clato4thewin inspired me to write more on this. Your idea will come into play more in a few chapters :)**

I swirl around the contents of my cereal bowl and stare at the clock. Only one more week until school starts.

Since my incidents a few days ago, I guess life has gotten easier. Finnick, Annie, and Katniss have been constantly watching over me. They have also kept Cato away because they feel he's bad. My phone was taken by them too because of the risk of more phone calls by the girls or texts from Cato.

Annie walks into the kitchen and yawns. "Morning, Clover." She ruffles her dark flowing hair out of her tired face and sits across the table from me. "How are you feeling?"

I shrug my shoulders and push away from the table. "I don't know, Ann, but I need to clear my head. I'm going for a walk." I walk to my room and throw on a large sweater and dark wash denim shorts.

When I get back down the stairs, Annie is smiling by the door as she ties her tangerine converse and throws her hair up in a messy bun. "I'll come with you," she suggests excitedly.

"I need to be alone. I'll be back in half an hour." Annie's face falls a little, but she hands me my phone and smiles in an understanding way before walking into the living room. I slip out the door and shut it softly behind me.

* * *

The late August air is warm against my skin and a light breeze flows through the tree branches and rattles the leaves. As I walk toward the park, I check my phone for missed messages. I flick through all the ones from Cato.

_Are you okay?_

_I'm sorry._

I don't even bother to read the rest of the messages before I dial his number. My foot taps impatiently for his answer.

"Clove?" Cato answers the phone questioningly, possibly for the fact that he still thinks that Annie still has my phone.

"Yea, hey Cato." I bite my lip and rub my arm waiting for his reply.

"Hey you have your phone back. What do you need? Are you okay?" Cato bombards me with questions. Right as I am opening my mouth to tell him to stop, he stops himself. "Sorry, what's up?"

I take a right down a main street and breathe deeply. "Nothing really, I'm just taking a walk and enjoying freedom before Annie forces me back home." The phone line is silent for a few moments. I pull a bright green leaf from a nearby tree and rip it to pieces as I cautiously speak again. "I just want to say sorry Cato; I shouldn't have brought you into any of this."

"No Clove, don't be sorry."

"But I am! I wish you never got into this." I spin on my heels and head back towards home. I've had enough of being alone for today. "You never deserved to be dragged into all of my crap."

"Clove, I've realized through this one important thing that will never change no matter how hard anyone tries," Cato takes a long breath and is silent for a moment before continuing his sentence. "I will do anything to protect you."

My thoughts race in my head and I sit myself down on the curb. "Cato, you don't know what you're saying." My head rests on my knees as I think about this and all the trouble this could lead him into.

"But I do know what I'm saying, Clove-"

"No you don't," I cut him off. A tear slides down my face and I raise myself off of the curb. "You don't know what you're getting into. I don't want you to get hurt Cato." I hang up the phone and take off back towards my house with my eyes blurring up with my salty tears.

* * *

"So, mostly, a hot guy said he was going to do anything he could do to protect you, so you yelled at him, cried, and ran away?" Katniss stares at me with a puzzled look and tries to figure out what just happened. Annie left an hour ago, so it's now Katniss' turn to look after me and watch over my every waking minute. "Are you stupid? He likes you, Clove."

I sigh and collapse onto the couch from my previous state of pacing the living room. "He doesn't like me, Katniss. We are just friends." My arms fold defensively over my chest and I kick my feet up onto the coffee table.

"Just friends my ass," Katniss mutters under her breath. I slap her arm and scowl at her comment before walking to the kitchen. I lie on my kitchen counter and stare at the ceiling.

"It's true, Clove." Katniss walks over to me and prods my arm. "You have a thing for him, admit it." I smile and laugh a little at her persistence. "You smiled. You like Cato. Case closed."

"I don't like him that way. We're just friends and will never be anything more."

Katniss scoffs at me and scours the fridge. "You're denying the inevitable, Clover." She closes the door with no success and turns back to me. "Let's list all of the reasons why you guys will end up together, shall we?"

I follow Katniss into the living room and listen to talk to me.

"Number one, you love him."

"I do _not _love him," I blurt out and throw a pillow at her.

"Yes you do. Number two, he loves you."

"Katniss-"

"EH HEM I AM TALKING." I roll my eyes and close my mouth. "Thank you. Number 3, he cares about you." I let myself zone out of her reasoning's and doze off quietly and soundlessly. I just need Cato to stay out of this, he doesn't know what he's getting into.

**So this is a short preview into the chapter, but I will most likely just add to this update later. Stay tuned amigos.**

**PS. I have kind of just been an emotional ball for the past month for mostly everything imaginable (mostly John Green's fault…) and I have immense writers block, so sorry for me not updating. If you have any ideas for any of my stories, PM me or Review your thoughts :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! I don't want to keep you waiting any longer so here is what I have had time to write in the past few weeks. But, I'm going to update as frequently as possible over winter break in December. I'm going through a rough time right now (who thought someone as anti-social and awkward as me could have problems about people who know I exist and aren't fictional?) so I may or may not update next week over Thanksgiving break. This was written on my IPod so sorry if there are any mistakes.**

_My heart pounds like a bass drum in my chest as I swerve through the enormous crowd of people going every which way. I swivel my head around nervously and keep pushing my way through the masses unseen. _

_His roaring voice echoes through room towards, me closer and closer. "I know you're here." I see his brown hair bob over some of the crowd members as he throws them aside to get through. "I'm going to get you Clove," he snarls and tears through another cluster of civilians._

_My heart rate picks up speed as does my feet and I politely weave between the small gaps away from the tormentor searching for me. I reach a wall corner and slam my fist against it. I'm trapped and he's coming. Dead. I'm dead. _

_A hand gruffly grabs my shoulders and spins me around to face him. He slams my back against the wall painfully and he twists his mouth into a crooked, evil smile. _

_"Poor, defenseless Clove." His left hand reaches into his pocket swiftly and grabs a knife, pressing it against my neck. _

_"You don't have to do this Gale." My voice shakes and I can feel tears threatening to spill. The knife presses harder into the skin of my neck and draws blood which trickles warmly down onto my grey hoodie. _

_"Oh but I do," Gale snickers lengthening the cut a little more. "You didn't stay with me, which was a very bad mistake." He pushes me over onto the cold concrete floor and I collapse like a rag doll. "You chose him over me. The blonde. What was his name?" He lightly scratches the knife on his eyebrow in thought. "Oh right, Cato."_

_"I didn't choose him Gale," I spit harshly, and then mumble softly, "He doesn't even like me." I shake my head of any thoughts of the blond and yelled at him, "but I sure as hell didn't choose you." _

_Gale growls and grips the knife tightly in his right hand. "That's it bitch, you're done." He lifts the knife over his head and thrusts it down to my chest._

* * *

I jolt awake crying into the arms of a stranger. My screams are muffled by their shirt pressing against my face. Their soothing hushes calm me down quickly.

"Clover, are you okay?" Finnick wipes a stray tear off my cheek and cradles me in his arms. I nod slightly and throw my head into my knees. "Was it Gale?" Again, I nod just the slightest bit and Finnick squeezes me closer to him. "You're safe here."

Annie runs down the stairs recklessly and races to the couch. "Are you okay? I heard screaming." She sees me huddled next to Finnick and runs a hand through my hair. "Clove, do you want to talk about it?" Annie always talks me through my nightmares and problems because of her caring nature.

I shake my head slightly and whisper through a cracking voice. "Not now." I press my head further into Finn's chest and he wraps his strong, welcoming arms around my scrunched body, pulling me closer into the familiar warmth.

As Annie leaves back up the stairs, Finnick rests his chin on the top of my head and comforts me for another twenty minutes. I can feel my eye lids growing heavier by the second. I raise my head up and I mumble a soft "thank you" before closing my eyes again and falling back to sleep.

* * *

My body slowly shifts over and stretches out on the small couch. My eyes adjust to the light and I sit up fully. I hear the faint sound of arguing in the other room and follow where it's coming from.

I sit myself up and walk toward the noise which seems to be emanating from the kitchen. I walk in and see Finnick and Katniss going at each other's throats while Annie stands awkwardly in the corner.

I cough loudly to get their attention and Finnick and Katniss freeze and stare at me. "Oh, um, hi Clove," Katniss stutters. All of them just stand and wait for my response to all of this.

I sigh and cross my arms over my chest. "Go home you guys. I bet you don't want to spend your last weekend before school worrying about me," I smile and move out of the doorframe to make room for them to pass through when they leave. "My mom will be back in a few hours, so I'll be fine."

After a minute of silence, Annie is the first to move. She walks over to me and envelops me in a hug. "Call me if you need me okay?" She smiles, grabs her bag, and walks out my front door.

Finnick and Katniss follow, both stopping to give me a hug. Once they're both gone, I lie down on my couch and stare at the ceiling and reflect back on the past few years. _When did my life become so horrible?_

**Okay guys! They are going to start school next episode. I feel people cringing behind their computer screens. Sorry, it had to happen. And I am also very sorry about the shortness of the chapter but this is the best I could do. I can't think with everything going on right now. I love all of you guys so much. Thanks for reviewing and showing your love. 3**


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks for all your reviews everyone! They bring a smile on my face every time I read them. It's so nice that you take the time to write it for me and support the story so much 3 **

I twist the keys in my truck, turning it off. My eyes stare out the window at everyone passing by me on their way into Panem High School. I release a sigh as I lean over and pull my bag towards me. I climb out and lock the door behind me.

I sling my bag over my right shoulder and find myself with the hurried crowd of students trying to find their friends. My eyes stare at the tiled floor inside of the large building and weave my way through everyone around me. Suddenly, my back is pushed forcefully, causing me to collapse to the floor and my bag to release its contents over the cold tiles. I hear laughter filling my eardrums as everyone stops walking to witness me, the klutz.

"Watch it!" The man who shoved me yells from behind me as he continues walking like nothing's happened. I swiftly shove everything back in my bag and continue down the hall silently.

"Hey Clove!" I lift my head to see Marvel running towards me. "Are you okay?" His concerned look pierces me and I shrug.

"Not really, but I'll survive." We walk together slowly down the hall as I listen to him recount every moment of his summer. I turn away from him every once in a while and see intimidating glances from people around us. Marvel's the popular, charming type of guy here whereas I'm just some girl. It still doesn't explain their menacing looks directed at me.

"Well, this is my stop." I abruptly stop in front of classroom 24, English with Ms. Trinket. I've heard about her being obsessed with manners and having a "thing" for Mr. Abernathy.

"I'll see you later Clove," Marvel smiles and waves before turning away and disappearing into the sea of students. I take in a deep breath and push open the classroom door. A young woman is tuned towards the whiteboard, scribbling notes. The rest of the classroom is vacant of any other people.

"You can sit down anywhere, dear." Her soft tone is inviting as she turns to face me. She smiles and gestures to all of the empty desks. "I'm Ms. Trinket," she adds, "And you are?"

"Clove," I whisper as I sit down in the third row of seats. Her heels click loudly on the ground as she walks to her desk.

"Now, Clove, what brought you here this early?" I lower my bag to the ground and rest my head in my hands.

"I guess I'm not in the mood to see anyone right now." Ms. Trinket purses her lips and studies me quizzically.

"You seem like a very lovely girl, Clove. Come talk to me if you need to talk to anyone." The bell rings and students slowly make their way into class talking away. "Sit anywhere you like for today class," Ms. Trinket chirps.

Katniss walks into class just as the last bell rings and slides into an empty seat next to me. "Where were you this morning? We were worried about you." I ignore her grey eyes piercing into the side of my head and stare straight at the front of the classroom where Ms. Trinket is writing review on the board. "Clove," Kat hisses, obviously not okay with me ignoring her.

The phone rings at the front of the classroom, silencing all of us. "Ms. Trinket," She answers politely. "Yes-okay-I'll be right down." She sets the phone down carefully and trots over to the doorway. "Talk quietly amongst yourself. Behave." She disappears into the corridor without another word.

Every student immediately stands up and gathers with their friends to talk together. There's no way of ignoring Kat now. "I don't know how to describe it, but when I walked down the hallway this morning, I felt like everyone was glaring at me and wanting to kill me," I mumble and fold my arms over my chest protectively.

Katniss stifles a laugh and pats my arm. "You're delusional, Sweetie. Who would want to kill you?" She reaches over and pinches my cheek causing both of us to erupt in laughter.

"I guess it was just my imagination." I slump further into my chair and listen to Katniss tell me everything I missed this morning which wasn't much, just Finnick almost rear-ending another car.

Ms. Trinket arrives back to class right as the bell rings. Katniss waves goodbye as she swings her bag over her shoulder and walks out the classroom. I gather my things and follow after her.

I find myself slowly wandering to my next class with my head down. When I reach my Science class, I silently sit in the seat closest to the door and stare at the wall in peace.

* * *

The class passes in an instant and I'm soon dashing down the halls towards Kat who stands in the hall talking to Annie.

"Hey!" Annie squeals and hugs me joyously. "How are you feeling?" I give her thumbs up and smile. We all walk down the hallway together laughing and following the sea of students in front of us. All of a sudden, a large figure grabs me from behind and swings me around in a circle. I scream and kick my feet back.

"Woah, are you trying to hurt me?" Finnick's sweet, charming voice fills my ears. I smile and slap his arm playfully.

"Yes because you don't just fucking grab me and you should know this by now, Finn!" I laugh and unravel myself from Finnick's grasp and walk back over to an amused Annie and Kat. All four of us walk to the cafeteria and sit down at the table that currently consists of Marvel and Peeta. I slide comfortably in the empty chair next to Marvel and listen to the group talk about their summer.

I rest my head on my hand and stare at a far off wall in hopes to let the time pass slower. With everything that has happened this summer, I guess I need some alone time and this is the closest I was going to get at this moment.

A gentle hand is placed on my shoulder and jerks me out of my thoughts. I look to see Annie looking down at me. "Can we talk, Clove?" She whispers and motions for me to follow her. I slide out of my cafeteria seat and follow closely behind Annie into the hallway.

"What's up Ann?" The cafeteria doors shut behind us and I stand in front of her with a slight smile pressed upon my lips.

She runs her hands messily through her hair and leans against the old, grey-green lockers. She sighs loudly, and then answers, "You have to trust me on this, okay?" I stand there hesitantly for a while before finally nodding my head slightly. Annie straightens up and stares me straight in the eye. "You can't trust Cato," she whispers, and then leaves back through the cafeteria doors. End of discussion.

I opt against going back in and facing everyone right now, so I walk aimlessly around the school, dragging my feet against the floor and stuffing my hands in my pockets. I find myself at my locker as the bell rings and everyone fills the hallways with noise once again. I grab my math textbook and quickly close my locker door. I notice the deathly glares from everyone once again and choose to ignore them. _It's your imagination Clove. _

An arm slings itself over my shoulder and I flinch. "Hi Clove!" Her cheery, annoying tone bursts into my right ear drum.

"Hi Glimmer," I mumble as I speed up my pace. Glimmer forces me back to her speed and laughs slightly at my attempt to run. "What do you want?" I sigh and reposition my backpack.

"We have a lot to talk about, bestie, good thing we have math together!" I roll my eyes at her mention of me as her best friend. She sashays into math class and I follow her slightly behind. I drop my bag under my desk and sit down as Glimmer leans onto my desk.

"Now what do you want to talk about '_bestie,_'" I match her excitement level and lean in intriguingly at her.

"No need for sarcasm," she scolds and is about to speak when the door swings open and hits the wall with a loud bang. Cato walks into the class and throws his stuff onto a desk on the other side of the room from where I am. Why did Annie say to stay away from him? I don't realize how long I've been staring until Glimmer coughs. "You like him don't you," she smirks deviously.

"I don't!" I yell defensively, drawing some attention over to us. I cross my arms over my chest and huff lightly.

She leans on my desk and observes me. "Well good, you have no chance with him weighing THAT much." She flips her hair over her shoulder and throws a flirtatious wink in Cato's direction.

"And what's that supposed to mean exactly?" I scoff. Glimmer laughs her nasally high pitched laugh and turns to walk away, but turns back towards me.

"You're fat," she says like it's an obvious point. She turns on her heels and waltzes away in her tight mini skirt and revealing crop top. My arms clench around my stomach tightly as I sit in shock. Is that what people really see me as? Fat?

I feel eyes burn into the back of my skull. I turn my head slightly and see Cato staring at me. He half smiles and gives a small wave. I twist back around and stare down at my books on my desk. _"You can't trust Cato." _Annie's voice rings in my ear for the rest of class.

* * *

The bell rings and I immediately jump out of my seat and towards the door, only to run into a wall. "Clove, we need to talk." I look up and find the wall to be Cato. He leads me through everyone in the school and out to my car. I sit in the driver's seat and he sits in the passenger next to me.

"What do you need?" I sigh and tap my finger anxiously on the wheel and purse my lips. _You can't trust Cato. _

"What was that whole thing with you and Glimmer and ignoring me about Clove?" Cato leans back in the seat and runs a hand through his hair roughly.

"She was just talking to me. Why does it concern you?" _Don't make eye contact. You will break down._

_"_Because when she left, you looked like you were a deer caught in headlights." _Don't look at him Clove. _"I want to know if you're okay." I couldn't stay away from avoiding him any longer. I turn and meet his concerned eyes. Tears threaten to spill any second.

I turn my face away from him and close my eyes. "Please leave." My voice catches at the end.

"Clove, I-" His voice is sincere with worry. He opens the car door and leaves before finishing. When I hear the door shut, I rest my head on the steering wheel and choke out a sob. _He doesn't really like me Clove. Keep him out of your life._

My driver's side door swings open and before I have time to comprehend anything, I'm enveloped in the familiar muscular arms that I have come to learn. "I'm sorry," Cato whispers softly in my ear. _He's just a friend Clove. Just a friend. _

_But he feels like so much more._

**Hey guys! So next chapter will most likely be a time jump about a month or two, I haven't decided yet. **

**I have a tumblr now so here. I am: independentlyinsane dot tumblr dot com**

**I don't post any fanfiction or anything regarding these fanfictions, but if you want to creep on how I spend my life, then go right ahead. **

**See you in December everyone :) **


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! I can hear the pitchforks being sharpened and the torches being lit right this second. I'm so horrible at updating, I'm sorry. I just have this thing where everything has to be perfect. And then add tumblr and school and stress and youtube and sports and sleep on top of that and it gives me zero time to write. Hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

The late November rain beats down on me as I hurry down the abandoned street. After being stranded at the library for two hours, I decided not to wait any longer for the rain to clear or my mother to answer her phone.

"'It'll be sunny' they said," I mumbled to myself as I think back to the weather report from this morning. I pull my drenched jacket tighter around me and dial my mom's phone one last time, hoping that it's lucky call number nine and I won't have to hear her voice mail again. When there is no answer, I hang up. I silently curse the library for being 5 miles from my house and my need to read books.

The icy downpour and strong winds seem to be relentless. Only three miles left. I sigh and lean against a nearby tree trunk.

"What does a girl need to do to get a ride around here?" I complain sarcastically to myself as I kick a rock that was resting at my feet into the road. A low engine roars over the sound of rain on concrete as bright headlights turn down the street. "I was just kidding!" I yell to the sky as the car slowly stops in front of me.

The window rolls down and I hear his cocky, arrogant voice laugh, "Need a ride?" His messy blonde hair sits perfectly on his head and his smile makes me freeze. "You look a little damp." I'm suddenly flooded back to the memory of what Annie told me a few months back. You can't trust him.

* * *

_I lead Annie down the street to the deserted park by my house. The smell of freshly cut grass fills the early September air. We sit down on an old, splintering park bench._

_"Why can't I trust him Annie?" She's silent and stares at her washed-out, blue vans. "Why can't trust Cato?"_

_She breathes deeply and runs a hand through her hair like she had when she first told me last week. "You just can't, okay? Trust me on this one."_

_I throw my head back and groan. "I'm not going to listen to you unless you give the reasons why, An." I get up from the wooden bench and cross my arms, tapping my toe impatiently._

_"Do you realize how many girls he's been with? Let's not forget all the girls he has lead on. Every girl is just another toy for him to play with until he gets bored and chooses another. He's an asshole, douche bag, and a jerk. And he has no respect for anyone at all, Clove." She huffs and purses her lips, moving her eyes back to the ground. I've never seen quiet Annie quite like this ever in my life. I choose to nod in agreement and sit back down next to her._

_I turn toward her and hold up my hand. "I swear I won't trust him Annie."_

_She stands up and looks back at me. "Good."_

* * *

I stare at Cato and his dry car one last time and sigh. "Fine , Cato. This one time."

My eyes stay locked in place staring at the rain ferociously rolling down the passenger side window in Cato's expensive car. I feel out of place here, like I don't belong. That's probably because I'm poor and am drenched in rain water.

We don't speak the whole car ride until we reach the turning to get to my house and I awkwardly break the silence. "Take a right here." Cato drives straight through the light, ignoring me. "Are you deaf? You missed my turn."

He smirks and laughs slightly like what I said was a pathetic joke to him. "Well," he starts as his car slows and turns left down an unfamiliar road. "I can't just bring you home like that. Now that would be so inconsiderate and not gentleman-like at all."

"This can be considered kidnapping," I huff and cross my arms defensively. The car takes a sharp right before pulling into a long paved driveway, leading up to a large mansion of a house.

"I'll bring you home when you're dry, Clove." He parks the car and walks around to open up the door on my side. I step out and quickly run under the shelter of the roof. Cato opens the door and leads me inside.

"Do you live here?" I gasp and gape at the high ceilings and hardwood floors. Nothing is out of place, it's all perfect, like a house pulled straight out of a magazine.

"No, Clove, we just broke into someone's house." Cato opens a white door, revealing a large tiled bathroom. He walks over to the other end of the room and grabs a towel. "Of course I live here." He jogs back over to me. "Here you go." Cato places the towel on my head and smiles. "Now let's go get you some dry clothes."

"Clothes? What?" I chase Cato down the hall and up the stairs before I realize I've that he's not in front of me anymore. "Cato," I shout. "Your house is a maze." I keep walking, in hopes of finding a way out. "I really don't need clothes. Mine are fine, thank you very much."

Something grazes my left arms lightly and I whip my head around to see Cato, towering over me, holding sweats and a sweatshirt. "Come on Clove, you'll get a cold." I sigh and take the clothes from him. "You can change in the bathroom downstairs." I walk silently behind Cato back through the house and down the stairs. "I'll be waiting here." He gestures to the living room.

I reach the bathroom and slip into his clothes quickly. I have to fix them so they don't fall off of my tiny frame. Why am I still here? Just leave, Clove.

I try turning on my cell phone, but it doesn't work. Broken phone. I leave my wet clothes in a corner of the bathroom to pick up when I leave. Correction, if I leave, seeing that Cato is as stubborn as a mule.

I silently walk back to the living room. I take my seat on the end of the couch, as far away from Cato as I can possibly make myself.

"Why were you walking around, miles away from your house, in the rain? Hoping to catch a cold?" Cato's eyes drill into the side of my head.

"Why were you driving around, miles away from your house, in the rain? Hoping to pick up chicks?" I turn my head to glare at him.

Cato chuckles. "What you don't know about me is that I like to kidnap teenage girls in my free time." I find myself muffling my laughter at his comment and looking away from him again.

There's a flash of lightening outside of the window, illuminating the sky. My body tenses and I pull my knees up to my chest. I cringe at the sound of the thunder that follows. Breathe, Clove.

"Hey hey what's wrong." Cato stand up from his end of the couch and kneels beside me. "It's okay." He places his hand on my shoulder like a dad would've if he were talking to their small child. "Are you afraid of thunder?"

I nod slowly. "And lightening." My eyes squeeze shut as more lightening strikes. Cato lifts himself up from the floor and back onto the couch, but this time, he's next to me. "This isn't a time to be hitting on me, Cato. I will punch you in the face."

My chin rests on my knees now as I look over to him. Cato sits two feet away with his arms open towards me. "I'm not hitting on you. We're friends." He pats the seat next to him and gestures toward me. He's just drawing you in don't fall for it. If you run now, you can make it to the door. Thunder roars outside and I make the split second decision to move over to him.

His muscular arm wraps around my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. Heat emanates from his body and his strong arms make me feel safe from the world. Clove. Just friends. But I can't help myself; I feel safe, like nothing can hurt me.

"Are you okay?"

I nod. "But I did just want a ride back to my house, you know?"

"I know."

We sit there in silence as the storm goes on. I flinch at every stroke of lightening and beat of thunder. My heartbeat races and I can almost not handle the storm anymore.

Cato squeezes my shoulder in reassurance. "Talk to me." My eyes flicker up to his piercing blue ones. "Distract yourself."

"I can't distract myself. Why can't you see that?" Tears start to fall down my cheeks. I try to hide it, but Cato notices instantly.

Cato wipes my eyes with his sleeve and smiles softly. "Yes you can."

"I'm ridiculous," I mutter softly as I turn away.

"What's ridiculous?"

"This," I laugh. "I'm afraid of some silly thunder and lightening."

"It's not silly." Cato insists. "It's different." He pulls me in closer to his side making me tense up, but soon enough, I relax. "Most girls are afraid of spiders."

A clap of thunder roars outside, making me cringe. A few more tears slip from my eyes onto Cato's shirt. "Being different isn't necessarily a good thing," I sigh.

"It can be." We sit on the couch in silence for a while, his arm around my shoulder, keeping my body pressed against his.

Just friends. Just. Friends. My body relaxes and my eyes slowly flutter shut. For the first time ever, I've slept through my fears, and it is all because of him.

* * *

The ringing of a phone awakens me slightly into a sleepy daze. I groan and stretch out on the couch. Wait, why am I on a couch? I sit up straight and rub my eyes. Where am I? Cato walks in holding his cell phone to his ear. Oh right.

"Finnick, calm down! She's fine," Cato yells. My ears perk up to the sound of my best friend's name. "Here. Talk to her." Cato hands to phone to me and slumps down on the couch next to me.

"Hello?" I hold the phone to my ear and brush a hand through my hair with the other.

"Clove!" Finn's relieved voice fills my ear. "We've been worried sick." I trace my finger along the edge of the cushion I'm sitting on when Finnick asks the question I was dreading. "Why the hell are you at Cato's?"

I take a deep breath and sigh. "He picked me up when I was stuck out in the rain and took me back to his place. It was my fault, Finnick, I was the one who walked to the library and I was the one who fell asleep on the couch at Cato's. I should have told someone where I was."

"Clove I'm coming to pick you up." Finnick's voice is gruff and demanding.

"You don't need to drive over, I can get myself home," I yell.

His car engine revs on the other end of the line. "I'm coming to get you." The line goes dead and I thrust the phone over to Cato.

"Nothing happened yesterday. I got to your house and fell asleep. Got it?" Cato nods in agreement. Silence falls between us and I place my head in my hands, awaiting Finnick's arrival.

"We're friends right?" Cato blurts out. "After everything that has happened between us, does this classify us as friends?"

I lift my head up and stare into his icy blue eyes. My lips twitch upward into a small smile. "Yes. Friends."

There is a loud pounding at the front door, followed by an angry shout. "Clove!" Cato walks to the door calmly as I stand back with my arms crossed protectively over my stomach. Finn shoves past Cato towards me. He places his hands on my shoulders , gripping them tightly. "You're okay," he breathes. His eyes soften and only show worry for me. "Let's go home."

Finnick places an arm over my shoulder and leads me towards the door that is held open by Cato. "Thank you for having me," I politely thank. Cato opens up his arms and leans in for a hug. Finnick growls and mumbles under his breath.

"We're friends!" Cato and I shout in unison before exchanging a friendly hug. He hands me a plastic bag filled with my clothes from yesterday that were still drenched in rain water. I wave back at Cato as I head towards Finnick's car.

I sit myself down in the passenger seat as I wait for Finn. He stands at the front door talking to Cato, probably something about staying away from me for the rest of eternity.

Finnick finishes scaring away Cato and climbs into the driver's seat. He shifts the car in dive and heads back down the paved driveway. "What is going on between you two? Last time I checked, you wanted nothing to do with him. You're also wearing his clothes."

"Are you saying that you're the only guy friend I can have? He gave me his clothes to wear because mine were soaked. It took me awhile to convince myself he was okay to trust!" Our voices are raised to the point where we are yelling in each others' faces.

"Of course I'm not saying I'm the only guy friend you can have. I'm just trying to protect you from this becoming another 'Gale relationship!' This is exactly what happened last time, Clove."

"He's not Gale, okay?" He parks the car outside my house. I try to leave but I'm stopped by Finn's hand gently placed on my shoulder.

"I'm here for you, Clove. Talk to me, okay?" Finnick's eyes are solemn and his face is fallen. "I'm sorry I shouted."

"It's okay Finn." We both silently exit the car and walk into my house. My mom, Katniss, Marvel, and Annie sit in the living room and whip their heads toward the door when we walk in.

Annie walks over to me and shakes her head. "You promised, Clove." She pushes her way around me, out the open door and Finnick runs after her. I betrayed my friend.

My mom is next to make a move towards me. "Baby," she whispers. Her hands wrap around me and through my hair. "You're okay." She chokes her tears back.

"My phone is kind of damaged from the rain." I pull the phone out from the bag that also contains my clothes.

Katniss and Marvel make their way to me now, enveloping me in their arms. "We are all glad you're okay," Katniss stated.

Even though everyone is happy, I only can think about the one who isn't. Annie trusted me, and I let her down. She will never forgive me for ignoring her, and I will never forgive myself for it either.

The front door opens back up again, but to my dismay, only one person stands in the doorway. Finnick ruffles his hair and walks past us. "She left." Finnick brushes past solemnly and into the kitchen.

I wave Katniss and Marvel goodbye and jog into the kitchen. Finnick sits at the table with his face resting in his hands.

"Finnick." I rest my hand on his shoulder and sit in the adjacent chair. "It's okay."

"No it's not," he moans. "You don't understand." He lifts his head up off of his hands and stares at me. His green eyes are starting to tear up at the slightest. "I try so hard and it's like she doesn't even care."

"Finn, just let Annie know about your feelings for her." Finn's love for Annie has been going on for a few years now, and because Annie doesn't tell anyone anything, no one knows her feelings about anything.

Finnick sighs into his hands and mumbles. "What if she doesn't feel the same?"

I stand up from my chair and walk away from the table sighing. "I thought you were The Finnick Odair, the man who can woo any girl with a flip of the hair and a gleaming smile." I pour myself a cup of coffee and sip on the black liquid excitedly. "I guess I thought wrong."

Finnick kicks the chair back and walks over to me briskly. "Oh no, I am Finnick Odair," he boasts with the cocky attitude he was missing just a few minutes ago.

"No you're not." A smile forms on my lips and I push Finn's chest back.

"Yes I am," he yells. "I. Am. Finnick. Odair."

"Then what are you going to do about it?" I yell, matching his volume.

A gleam of hope has been replaced in his eyes and his lips pull themselves into a smile. "I'm going to ask out Annie Cresta."

* * *

**Ooooohhh! Possible Finnick or Annie POV chapter next? Maybe? **  
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